Facade
by sarah3905780
Summary: She has no one to turn to. She doesn't want anyone to turn to, as they would end up getting hurt. They always do. In her eyes, she will forever remain a thief and a killer. Can he help her, even if his own world is shrouded with darkness?Full sum inside..
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**Hello everyone! This is my second fanfic... Well, I've had a hard time deciding on what to rate this... but I think I'll go with T for Teen because I think that teenagers and up can handle swearing (I know I can.. jeez, there's enough at my high school...), and a rape seen or two, and murder. But if you think that it's badly rated, tell me by reviews, and I'll change it. Every time Mikan has a flashback, it could possibly be of rape. But don't worry, if you like, I'll warn you. I'm warning you. The large paragraphs written in _italics _have a scene of rape, child abuse, attempted rape, and murder... If you want to skip it, go right ahead. I won't mind. Any who... here's the first chapter of my version of 'Gauken Alice'.  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own Gauken Alice. That belongs to whoever it belongs to. I also don't any of the songs that I put in the text.

**Summary:** She has no one to turn to. She doesn't _want_anyone to turn to, as they would end up getting hurt. They always do. In her eyes, she will forever remain a thief and a killer. Take her grandfather, for example: He was terribly sick, yet she had just let his life slip through her fingers like water when she could of helped him. Ever since _that _happened, she has tried to isolate herself from society. Running away to a place called 'Gakuen Alice', she finds her three childhood best friends who had left her unwillingly; Ruka, Hotaru, and Natsume. Can he help her, even if his own world is shrouded with darkness?

**Alice Academy  
1**

_Homicide flashes through her mind again  
No more pain, take control  
If he raises his hand again  
She'll find her freedom in killing him  
The world will see that she's had enough  
_

A turtle could be seen making it's way, slowly but surely, down a leaf-strewn path towards it's destination, a schoolhouse. Inside said school was thirteen-year old Sakura Mikan and several of her classmates. They were discussing the reason as to why their school was being shut down.

"They say it's because there's no money to keep it up," stated a blond-haired girl who's name was Suzuki Karen. Karen was sitting in her seat, looking rather bored, "I honestly don't care. It would be nice to have this school shut down. It looks simply atrocious; paint peeling on the walls, windows are broken, floor panels are rotted."

"Though I do agree that this school is run down, where would we receive our education?" questioned Mikan. She looked to her best friend of four years, Imai Hotaru, as if she would have the answer.

Instead, it was Karen who answered, "I would think that we would be moved to the city's school, and they would have a bus come get us, instead of making us walk."

"Ahh, that would make sense. Although I wouldn't want to go to school in the city, it's so noisy and polluted, as opposed to the clean country air..." said Mikan, "Right, Hotaru?"

"Hn..."

As their conversation came to an end, the final bell sounded, indicating that the school day was over.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, then! Bye!" waved Karen.

"Bye Karen!" waved Mikan cheerfully, putting on a smile. As Mikan and Hotaru walked together as they did everyday, Mikan noticed a turtle with a letter in it's mouth. The turtle continued to walk, yet it was going no wheres as it was caught in a tree root. Mikan quickly extracted her silver pocket knife from her jeans pocket and swiftly walked over to the turtle, whispering to the tree, "I'm sorry, it'll only hurt a little bit," and cut the root to help the turtle. When Mikan's knife first cut into the root, she winced a little at the extreme pain in her head. No one noticed her flinch, except Hotaru. It pained Hotaru to see her friend hurt, to know that she was the cause of it because of her turtle. Yet Hotaru stood still, a stoic expression in place.

"Hurry up Dummy, you're too slow."

"Tch. Whatever." Mikan said as she watched the turtle walk and stop at her feet. She carefully picked it up, and removed the letter from it's mouth. After reading it, Mikan was silent. She turned around with a hurtful expression, "Why didn't you tell me sooner that you were leaving to go to another school in Tokyo?"

"... Because everyone would of made a big deal out of it. The car is waiting for me, so I should go. Besides, it's not like we're never going to see each other again. I'll come home on summer vacations and winter vacations, and we can send each other letter and maybe talk on the phone if it's really necessary. Tell everyone I said 'Bye' and you can keep the turtle."

"...O..okay. I'll miss you Hotaru." said Mikan as she slowly made her way towards her best friend.

What Hotaru did next surprised Mikan, she hugged her, and said, "I'll miss you too, Mikan. Always remember to smile." Then, she left, and went in the direction of a black car with two surly-looking men in black suits and sunglasses. To Mikan, it was all too familiar.

"Are you ready to go, Imai-sama?" asked one of them as he opened the back door for her.

"Yes." she replied and slid in the car. The man closed her door, and opened his own and got in the vehicle. As the door shut with a 'click' the automobile drove off into the direction of the city, along with Hotaru.

Sad, Mikan walked away with her head down, and thought, 'Another important person in my life, gone. Am I destined to be alone?' She thought this over and over again until she arrived home, where she lived with her 'Jii-chan. 'No! I mustn't think these horrendous thoughts. I have my 'Jii-chan with me!'

" 'Jii-chan! I'm home!"

"Aah! Mikan! So glad you're home! Anything exciting happen in school today," he said with a bright smile.

"No, actually. Something did happen, but it wasn't exciting in the least bit."

"What?! Did they say that they _are_ going to close the school down?"

"No, Hotaru's transferring school's. She's already gone." she said, her eyes covering her bangs.

"Aww, sweetie, I'm sorry. Come here." he said, arms wide. Mikan gladly went in them, "I'm sure that she'll come back and visit."

That night when it was time for bed, Mikan clutched the turtle and went into a troublesome sleep.

_"No! Stop it Daddy! Please, stop hurting me! Please Daddy! Stop it!" pleaded a five year-old Mikan, tears streaming down her face, begging her father who was on top of her to stop his revolting actions. Yet he did nothing, he continued to pound into her, grunting in pleasure while Mikan was crying her little eyes out and screaming for him to stop. But he never did, he just continued. When he did stop, he picked Mikan up and threw her violently across the room. Mikan landed on the floor, and she could see the dark figure that was her father looming over her. She could see him raise his foot up, ready to strike. Mikan shut her eyes, waiting for the blow. As fast as lightning, her father kicked her in the stomach and laughed as Mikan began to cough up blood. From his breast pocket in his shirt, he withdrew a silver pocket knife, squatted down, and began to slice through Mikan's skin, looking disgusted as the wounds began to heal immediately. "You stupid little girl, you should never have been born. You're nothing but a thief. If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you." he spat in her ear. Then he walked to get his pants. Leaving a naked, shaking, crying Mikan on the ground._

Mikan woke up in a cold sweat, shuddering as she remembers those memories, 'It's all a dream, that's all behind you now, Mikan, he's gone, he can't hurt you any more.' she thought, drawing her knees up to her chest, as she leaned back against the wall, a single tear made it's way down her cheek. Mikan knew that she was in for another sleepless night.

At five o'clock the next day, Mikan stood up, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, and walked to the kitchen. After eating some breakfast, she put on her running sneakers and began to run out the door, to do fifteen laps around her block as a warm up. You'd think that Mikan would be out of breath, but she wasn't as she'd been doing this since she was eight, when she came to live with her Ojii-san, after _that _happened. Mikan finished her laps, then jogged into her backyard and started her training of martial arts for an hour. When she was done with that, Mikan went to take a shower, and got ready to go to school.

Mikan went to school, but her friends remarked that she was even quieter than usual. When the final bell rang, Mikan was last to leave. As she heaved herself up from the plastic chair, she could hear voices. She recognized them both. One was the principal's and the other, Hotaru's mother.

"Thank you very much, Imai-san, this donation was very generous. Now we can upgrade the school to improve it!"

"You're very welcomed Principal-san." At this time, Mikan chose to reveal herself.

"Donation?" she questioned, 'The Imai's don't have that kind of money... how'd they get it?' she thought.

"The school Hotaru is going to gives money to the students' families as a thank you for letting the children go there. Hotaru knew that the school needed money, so she decided to comply with the Academy's wishes and went to the school." said Imai Nadeshiko, Hotaru's mother.

"So you mean that Hotaru left this school so it wouldn't be torn down?" Mikan said with her bangs covering her eyes.

"Yes, she did, she cares a lot about this school, and she cares a lot about you too, Mikan," Nadeshiko said softly.

"That's nice to know. I have to go know. Good bye." Mikan said emotionlessly and bolted through the hallway.

Days passed which soon turned into weeks, and weeks soon turned into months, and months grew into a year. With the date now being the seventeenth of May, it was exactly one year since Hotaru's departure. Mikan was now a fourteen-year-old loner. After Hotaru left, she stopped talking to everybody, with the exception of her Ojii-san. But even he could see the change in her and became sad, but he was surprised that not once had she ever skipped a day of training. She treated it like a religion.

Every week for the past year, Mikan would write letters to Hotaru, hoping for a response of sorts. When Mikan walked in the door she was greeted by her Ojii-san. He looked to be very happy, "Mikan! You're home! Look what I've got for you! A letter from Hotaru!" Upon hearing this, Mikan's face visibly brightened and a smile from ear to ear could be seen on her face.

"Really?! It's been a year today sice Hotaru left! I wonder what it has to say?" said Mikan as she took the letter out of her Ojii-san's hand and hastily opened it. She could see that it had a picture of a gorilla billboard. The brunette opened the letter, it read:

_Mikan,  
__The reason why I am not coming home this sum-  
__mer is because it's too hot where you are and __the  
__Academy has air-conditioning so I'm not going to  
leave bot__her. Same with winter vacation. It's too  
cold. __Don't worry, I'll call you soon. But wait, the-  
__re's no phone, so I won't bother.  
__Hotaru.  
__P.S The picture on the front is the view from my window.._

After each line Mikan read, her smile got smaller until there was a frown on her pretty features. "She says that she's not coming home," said Mikan in a monotone voice, and emotionless expression on her face.

"My goodness, not coming to visit because it's too hot? My word, that child certainly is lazy." he said, then coughing a bit.

"I'll be in my room, 'Jii-chan, could you please call me when supper is to be made?" and walked off in the direction of her room.

Ojii-san noticed that she was hurt so he decided that he would make supper, and give it to her in her room as a treat. 'My poor Mikan, I hope she smiles more often.' he thought as he prepared the noodles.

With each passing month, Mikan became even more distant than ever, but still did not give up on her training, even though at the most she got five hours of sleep each week, but she didn't mind. She usually never slept at all some days since the age of five. Now the twenty-ninth of February, Mikan was a fifteen-year-old insomniac. Her Ojii-san recommended that she see a doctor to get a prescription, and surprisingly, she took his advice. That evening, for the first time in ten years, Sakura Mikan slept through the night.

Although Ojii-san was happy to see his granddaughter sleep, he became ill. 'It must've started the day I got that letter from Hotaru, but God, that was ten months ago,' thought Mikan as she placed a cold cloth on his forehead. He had been getting numerous of fevers as of late, and lost a considerable amount of weight. " 'Jii-chan, why won't you let me heal you?" she asked him.

"I will not let you hurt yourself, Mikan. Remember what happened when you healed that little sparrow? You coughed up blood, Mikan! I will not let you hurt youself over something as trivial as my sickness." Then he gave a long cough which left him gasping for breath.

" 'Jii-chan, please let me heal you.." Tears welled up in her olive orbs as the pain in her head grew more extreme.

"No. Go write a letter to Hotaru or something. I need to sleep." With that, he shut his eyes and rolled over on his side, his back facing his only granddaughter.

"..." Mikan got up silently and walked out her Ojii-san's room, thinking, 'I mustn't cry, crying get's you nowhere,' as she scratched away her unfallen tears.

As the weeks passed, Ojii-san's condition did not clear, in fact, if anything, it became worse. Ojii-san finally gave the 'okay' to go to the doctor to get better, but the doctor informed them that he had Tuberculosis, and that he came too late for it to be cured, an that he would have a limited time to live.

" 'Jii-chan, why aren't you getting any better?" she asked him one day out of the blue.

"Do not worry about me, I suspect that my time is almost up," he said in a raspy voice, "I know that you have been skipping school just to take care of me. You should not have done that. When I die, I want you to take the money from my savings, and go to Tokyo, find Hotaru," he stopped to have a brief coughing fit. Mikan's eye twitched as her headache's pain increased. "Go in my closet, I have a present for you."

"A present? Why would you get me a present?" asked Mikan, her eyes filled with confusion.

"For your fifteenth birthday, of course, although, I'm four months late, will you still except it?"

" 'Jii-chan! How could you say such a thing! Of course I'll except it, no matter what." she said coming back from his closet with the rather large present. When she set it on the ground, it moved a bit. Her eyes widened in shock, " 'J-Jii-chan, what is it?"

"Open it and find out," he said with a knowing smile.

When she removed the lid, she heard a 'neaw' sound and a furry orange-and-black ball, curled up and looking intently at her. "Y-you got me a tiger! Oh my gosh 'Jii-chan! I love it! Thank you so much!" She said, hugging the old man, "What should I name it? How did you get it? I thought that there aren't any tigers in Japan." Mikan picked up the tiger and hugged it.

"You're right, there aren't any tigers in Japan except in zoos. An old war buddy of mine who lives in Indonesia breeds these sumatran tigers, and when I told him that I'd like to give you one for your birthday, he was a little skeptic at first, as the species are protected because they are rare, but I assured him that you are a responsible, mature young lady and that you'll take good care of her. Her mother died giving birth to her and her siblings, you know, and she's the only one that survived. Now, what to name her, what to name her.." he trailed off, lost in thought.

Mikan thought very hard on what to call her, then, she gasped, " 'Jii-chan! I know what to call her!It's a blessing that she's here, right? Since her mother and siblings are gone... well, I've decided to name her Keiko!" she smiled, "Hello, Keiko" she purred softly, and she was surprised that Keiko opened her eyes and closed them again, but not before locking gazes with her new owner, as if to say hello.

"She's about three weeks old so you'll need to nurse her regularly with some milk and a bottle. Then when she gets to be about five months, you should teach her to hunt and -" Ojii-san went into a violent coughing fit, this time, coughing up blood, "Mikan - pant - my time - pant - is up... Take good care - pant - of Keiko... and yourself... I... love you,"

" 'Jii-chan! NO! Don't go, please, please! Don't die..." cried Mikan, tears falling on the floor as she grasped her Ojii-san's hand, "I love you too, 'Jii-chan" she whispered as his hand fell limp in hers. For the next hour, Mikan was crying over her lifeless Ojii-san's body, hugging Keiko, telling her that she should have healed 'Jii-chan, that it's her falt that he'd dead, just like it's her fault that her pregnant mother is dead, too.

"Please, don't cry, it makes me sad," said a soft voice.

"W-who said that?" questioned Mikan, sitting up and looking around the room.

"Me, the one you call Keiko," Upon hearing this, Mikan's eyes widened considerably. 'W-why can she talk to me? Is it because I am in tune with nature? Do I have more of those freakish powers? Ahh Tsu-chan, why did they take you away? You didn't burn down the village, I did,' Once again, tears rolled down the brunette's cheeks. 'Crying will get me nowhere. I must go to Tokyo for 'Jii-chan.'

"Excuse me, but who was that human who coughed red liquid?" asked Keiko in her soft voice.

"T-that wa-was my 'Jii-chan. He's in a much b-better place now, where there is no suffering. Only happiness," replied Mikan, her eyes being covered by her bangs.

"Just like my mommy and brothers and sisters. I heard humans say that she's in a better place now, just like your 'Jii-chan,"

"Mm, yeah. You know, we're more alike than you think." 'You have no family, I have no family,' finished Mikan in her head. Mikan took a deep breath, and exhaled, "Well, I guess that we should start packing, We've got to catch the train for six if we want to leave,"

"Excuse me, but where are we going?"

"To Tokyo, where we're going to live from now on," Mikan said as she set Keiko down and stood up, "Can you walk?" she asked, eyeing Keiko's wobbly steps.

"Not very well, but with practice, I think I will be able to manage." said Keiko as she walked/shook around the room.

"While I go pack, you can practice walking, okay?" said Mikan and left the room to go to her own. When she reached her closet, she took out a back pack, and put in three good tops, a pair of jeans, her running shorts, two old tops, her running sneakers, lots of undergarments, elastic bands, her toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap. She went downstairs and peered in the fridge and found a big tin of powdered milk for baby animals, and a little bottle for feeding. Mikan also found a steak and grabbed that, along with the tin and bottle, ran upstairs and places them in her pack as well. After making sure that she had her pocket knife safely in her back pocket, she zippered the back pack, and went to her nightstand where there was a charred photo album. She gingerly picked it up, and placed it against her chest, "Mom, I miss you so much. I'm sorry, it's my fault that you're gone," she said as she re-opened her pack and placed it inside, and re-closed it before heading to her now deceased Ojii-san's room with Keiko attempting to walk. She went towards a red clay pot, and flipped it upside-down, where several 2 000 yen notes fell to the ground. Mikan grabbed the notes and hastily put them in her pocket. "C'mon Keiko, time to go," she said as she lifted the black and orange furball into her arms. As Mikan made her way out the front door, she looked back and whispered, "Goodbye, 'Jii-chan," and jogged to the train station which was a good twenty minute jog. Even though her shin began to ache, she kept on jogging. If there was one thing that her bastard of a father taught her, it was endurance.

As Mikan saw the lights of the train station and slowed to a fask walk. When she opened the door, she was met by a blast of heat which she didn't notice. Hot or cold, Mikan wouldn't know the difference because she couldn't feel tempratures, it was always neutral. She was odd that way, just as she never got ill, no matter what. She could dive in artic water and wait until she dried off and never catch pneumonia. A 'freak of nature' that bastard called her more than once.

The brunette made her way up to the counter and said quietly, "One ticket to Tokyo, please."

The clerk nodded, "Date of birth, please?"

"January first, 1993," replied Mikan in that same quiet tone.

She punched in the numbers, then said, "3 400 yen, please." Mikan fished out 4 000 yen and handed it to the clerk as she handed her the train ticket, "It should arrive in ten minutes,"

"Thanks. Keep the change," said Mikan before walking outside to wait for the oncoming train. She fiddled with this, and that, and hoped to whomever that they allowed animals on the train, 'Well, that ticket person said nothing, and she did see Keiko, so I'm assuming that they do let animals on the train,' she thought as she glanced at the little ball of fur cuddled in her arms, fast asleep.

A minute later, the large electric train pulled up in the station. Mikan made sure that her back pack was on her back, and Keiko in her arms, and boarded the locomotive to sit in a comfy chair next to the window, 'Damn, I should of brought a book, this ride's gonna be nearly five hours,' Mikan scolded as she look out at the passing scenery before her.

As Mikan got off the train, it was eleven at night. And it was dark. 'Should I look for the school now, or tomorrow? ... Now is as gosd a time as any,' she decided. Mikan walked to the side of the road as yelled, "TAXI!" waking Keiko up. "Shh, go back to sleep." Three seconds later, a bright yellow cab stopped in front of her.

"Where to, sweet thang?" the cabbie said, eyes sweeping over her body.

'What a fucking pervert,' thought Mikan, 'Disgusting,' "Alice Academy, if you please," she said climbing in the back seat, setting Keiko on her lap and putting her back pack on the floor between her feet.

"So, where you from?" inquired the cabbie, looking at Mikan through the rear-view mirror.

"Not here," she replied, clearly ending the conversation.

Several minutes passed before the taxi came to a halt. "1 200 yen," he said.

Mikan fished in her pocket before handing the man 2 000 yen. She waited until he gave her the remaining 800 yen back before stepping out of the cab with her pack on her shoulder and Keiko held by one arm as the other's hand was thowing him a 100 yen coin and walking up to the gates of Alice Academy.

Her jaw dropped. It was freakin' HUGE. And when Sakura Mikan thinks it's huge, it's huge. H-U-G-E, huge. Mikan could feel someone move, and looked in the direction of said movement. It turned out to be a guard for the gate.

"What do you want?" he barked.

"I just.. I just wanted to see my friend, Imai Hotaru. She goes to this school. May I please see her?" she asked politely.

"No you can't. No one from the outside is allowed to see anyone from this school, do I make myself clear? Now get lost before I call the police!" and turned away.

'Geez, _someone _woke up on the wong side of the bed today. Fuck he's rude, now I'll never get to see Hotaru.' Mikan thought glumly, 'I wonder if I could blast away thouse walls... No, then the police'd take me away... Hmm, I could awlays _fly _up there, I suppose...' As Mikan thought of more ways to get over that damned wall, she suddenly felt two pairs of feet coming this way. When she looked up, she saw two greasy guys sniggering their ways towards her. 'Fuck' was all Mikan could think.

"Hey there little girl," said the tallest one. Mikan visibly stiffened. The bastard used to call her 'Little Girl' and she hated it. "I see you can't get into that school, so why don't you come with us. We know a school that you can go to that once you graduate from there, this academy'll be beggin' to have you in their school."

Mikan tightened her grip on Keiko and bluntly said, "No.", much to the men's dismay. They tried again. "No." she said _again_. 'Fuck they're idiots. Although I used to be an idiot too. Five years ago, I would of happily went with them, but now, I'm much smarter than I used to be..' She thought, reminiscing the time when she was ten.

_A ten year old Mikan could be seen merrily skipping towards her house with a armful of groceries. Too bad she didn't notice the man behind her in an alley. The man pretended to fall, crying out in agony about his ankle being twisted. Mikan didn't feel any pain in her head, so she was a little suspicious, but being the caring itiot that she was, she went to help him. When she set down her bags to help him up, he tripped her. Mikan looked up to his face to see not an expression of pain, but of malice. Since Mikan was on the ground, the man took this opportunity to spring up and attack. He swiftly kicked her in the stomach, then he lifted her up and bashed her against the brick wall when Mikan suddenly became unconscious from the pain. The man threw her to the ground where she landed face first, and rolled her over. He was happy that she was wearing a skirt. He hiked it up and began to pull off her underwear. Mikan's head, which had been bleeding internally, had healed completely and she had regained conciousness to find her attacker violating her. So she kicked him. Hard. They both screamed at the pain, one in his groin, the other, in her head. Still, the man ignored his pain and charged at Mikan as she swiftly rose to her feet, dodging his punches and threw some of her own. Using quick thinking, Mikan struck the pressure point on his next and sighed in relief and his body slumped to the ground in a dead weight. Rolling him over, Mikan withdrew her pocket knife from her shoe (her skirt had no pockets) and pulled out the blade. She pressed the knife against his throat, watching as the stainless steel cut through his skin and blood bubbled to the surface. When she slit the remainder of his throat, Mikan cleaned the knife on his shirt. Tears welling up in her eyes. Even though the man was unconscious, the pain grew in Mikan's head until she screamed. She held out her left arm, and sliced her forearm, taking deep breaths as the pain dissolved from her head. "I won't let _anyone _hurt me again." she said as she shook her head to rid herself of the image and tears. Mikan turned around and stopped instantly, to find a figure stairing at her with wide, disbelieving eyes, "H-Hotaru... Wh-what are you doing here?"_

Mikan was snapped out of her flashback by someone putting a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her in the opposite direction of the Academy where her best friend was. "Let me go. Now." she said in a deadly calm voice.

"No, and what're you -" started the short one, who was the one holding on to her shoulder, but was cut off by -

'A hippie?' thought Mikan.

"What are you two doing with this little lamb?" asked the hippie. His blond hair swayed in the gentle breeze of the wind as he batted his violet eyes.

'Little lamb? What the fuck?!' thought Mikan and the greasers.

"Back off, she's ours," stated the tall one. Mikan suddenly stepped on his foot.

"What the hell? 'Ours'? I am most certainly _not_ yours, you fucking retard. Get away from me before I do something I might regret," She said, drawing her knife from her shorts' pocket.

He hastily put his hands up and said, "Whoa now, little missy, no need to get violent, right, Hippie?"

"Hippie? What do you me-e-e-ean? I'm a te-e-eacher-r-r here!" He said in a sing-song voice.

"A hippie like you, a teacher? Pfft, yeah right.." said short-and-stout.

The hippie walked up to the greasers, and said in a very calm, soothing voice, "Why don't you two go home now, and leave this little kitten alone, hmm?"

Mikan watched in awe as the two men heavily blushed as nodded dumbly, "Y-yes, I-I think we will go home," one of them said as he grabbed the other one's arm and hauled him down the street.

The hippy turned towards her and said, "Why don't you go home, too."

Mikan's heart began beating faster, 'What the hell? I don't know him, why the fuck am I blushing? Get a hold of yourself, Mikan. To clear her head, Mikan shook her head, her long, brown lair shaking along with it. "Now why in hell would I do that? I've come too far just to go straight back home. I heard that Alice Academy is for geniuses, so give me the entrance exam, and I'll pass it. I need to see my friend" she asked.

The hippie seemed rather astonished, and thought rather gleefully, 'I used my Alice, didn't I? Ooh! Maybe she has one too.. I'll ask,' "Ohoho! What determination you have. But I believe proper introductions are in order. My name is Narumi, I'm a teacher here. Who might you be?"

"Sakura Mikan."

"Do you know why this Academy exists, Mikan-chan?" When he saw Mikan shake her head, he continued, "It was built so that special people, not necessarily geniuses, but for people who have a natural born power, like making yourself fly, or reading peoples' minds, could come here to learn, and perfect their powers so that they may one day have a highly sucessful job. So, in other words, people with natural born gifts, or 'Alices' are sent here to learn. Do you think that you have one of these things called an Alice?"

'So that's what those things are called.. "Gifts" he called them, but that bastard always called them things for freaks..' thought Mikan as she stroked Keiko. "... Yes I do, in fact," she could see Narumi's face light up, "Ehehehe..." she laughed nervously, "I have six."

Narumi's jaw literally _dropped_ to the ground, "What?! _Six_? What are they? What are they? Tell me, Tell me!" he pleaded. Mikan was reminded of a child and wondered how old he was.

"Well, I know that I can cancel out fire burning my hair... I can heal people and things, but every time someone or something within a fifty mile radius is hurt, I too feel their pain, but in my head... I can summon wind, water, fire and earth... although every time I do for some reason my side hurts... That's about it. Do you have an Alice to, Narumi-sensei?"

"Hehe, why yes, I do Mikan-chan. I'll give you a - "

BOOM!

Narumi was cut off by the brick wall behind them exploding into pieces. Mikan was thrown back by the force, cuts on her hands and knees from impact on the cement sidewalk healing instantly. A flicker of pain became apparent in her head and looked up to see Keiko under a slab of brick. Mikan rushed over to her little tiger cub and placed her hand on Keiko's head, closing her eyes and concentrating on everything good in the world. Soon, Keiko miaow-ed and began to lick her hand happily. She picked her up and jogged over to Narumi-sensei to see that his hand was covering his head. Mikan's eyes widened considerably before she scrambled beside him and asked frantically, "Oh my God! Sensei, are you okay?! What's wrong with -?" But Mikan was cut off because she could see something emerge out of the smoke. She blew in that general direction, and the smoke was swept away by the wind she created. Now that the smoke that had obscured her vision was gone, she could clearly see that a guy about her age was standing on the brick wall. With a cat mask on.

"That there's Hyuuga Natsume. He's the smartest, most dangerous student in the whole middle school section. 'Black Cat' they call him," explained Narumi. But Mikan wasn't listening. In her had, those two words were repeated over and over again, '_Hyuuga Natsume. Hyuuga Natsume. Hyuuga Natsume. Hyuuga Natsume. Tsu-chan?..._' Until she was snapped out of her mind my a sudden pain in her head. She saw Natsume on the ground, his mask thrown off his face, and Narumi winding a plant-whip around his arm. She concluded that the sensei must've whipped him as he jumped down from the wall. "So the rumors were true about a possible escapee. Good thing I came here on guard. Shame about his punishment, I hope I didn't ruin his cute little face.."

But she wasn't listening. Mikan quickly ran to Natsume's side and asked franticly, "Oh my God! Are you okay? _Gasp_!Your cheek!" The olive eyed girl saw a fireball appear under his hand and immediately hit it, "We wouldn't want to start a fire, now. They can be dangerous. Can burn down whole towns, even if by accident," she said. A brief emotion of surprise flashed in his eyes before they glazed over. It was then that Mikan realized that Narumi had also joined them. She hadn't even felt his footsteps from the earth! How stupid to ignore her surroundings, and mentally scolded herself to being so dumb.

"_Sigh_, he's fighting my Alice." said Narumi dramatically.

"..." and Mikan simply hit the pressure point on Natsume's neck. He instantly fell limp in the teacher's arms, "That should keep him unconscious for about thirty minutes or so.

"Well," began Narumi, hoisting Natsume up and over his shoulder as if he were a sack of potatoes, "Guess what, Mikan-chan, you are being excepted to Alice academy! Ya-a-a-y!! Come with me and I'll go tell the higher-ups that we have a new student, 'kay?"

"Yeah, sure..." 'What a gay-ass teacher..' she thought as she made sure that her back pack was on her back, and Keiko was in her arms. They were, so she picked up the cat mask, and walked along side Narumi in silence until they reached the gates. Narumi stopped, and Mikan followed suit.

"Come in and welcome," he said, beaming, "To Alice Academy!"

'So _this _is the school that I'm going to go to?' thought Mikan in awe.

--

**Review please**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**I've written another chapter! Hoohaahaa! I'm starting the third chapter now, too... so I think It will be out either today, If my mother will let me on the computer for that long, or tomorrow.  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gakuen Alice. I'll find out who it's owned by when I'm not so lazy to Google it.

**Alice Academy  
2**

_No one knows just what has become of her  
Shattered doll, desperate  
Oh so innocent and delicate  
But too damn obdurate  
And obstinate to let go  
_

_'So _this _is the school that I'm going to go to?' thought Mikan in awe._

_--_

Narumi-sensei led Mikan to a large room where he set Natsume to lie down on a large couch. "Sit wherever you like Mikan-chan," motioning to the other large couches which encircled a large wooden table, "I'm going to go get you some Alice limiting devices, which would you prefer, earrings, bracelets, hats, goggles, glasses, rings... whatever"

"I'll prefer the earrings, please." she said politely, watching him go to the side room as she made her way to a couch opposite to Natsume .

"Since you have six alices, and I'm guessing that they are pretty powerful, am I right?"he shouted from the side room, "We-e-e-ll, that means that you'll have to have lots of earrings," he said as he re-entered with a handful of earrings and an earring gun. "This may hurt a little, but it's gonna be gone after a few seconds," he said as he picked up an earring and positioned it in the gun, placing it on her ear, and pulling the trigger. A loud snap emitted from the object, and Mikan didn't even flinch. Next, Narumi found the matching white earring and did the same to the other ear. And repeated the process for ocean blue earrings, leaf green earrings, ruby red earrings, and yellow-ish orange earrings. Mikan guessed that the white was for wind, blue for water, green for earth, red for fire, and yellow/orange for healing. She was glad that they would limit her powers, since every time she used her 'Alices', her side would hurt for a second, then her healing would, well, heal it for her. As for the cancelling out thing... she hadn't used that since she was eight. Although, she _did _see what Narumi-sensei's alice did to those other guys, but it didn't effect her.. so she assumed that the cancelling out thing wasn't just good for fire, but also whatever his alice was, too. She should ask him.

"Hey, Narumi-sensei, why didn't your alice work on me?" she asked as she looked at the five earrings on either side travelling up her ears in the hand mirror the he somehow magically produced.

"Because you also have a very special and very rare alice, Mikan-chan. The alice of Nullification." he said seriously, then he flashed his stupid grin and continued, "Well, Mikan-chan, I gotta go tell the higher-ups that we have a new student. Oh, before I go, what's your IQ?"

"... A hundred and forty-two, why?" she asked, tilting her head to one side in confusion.

"Because, if the other students ask what 'star rank' you're in, tell them special, okay? Well, I must be off, toodles, Mikan-chan! Watch Natsume-kun for me, will you?" and disappeared behind the big wooden doors.

"Fantastic. 'Special Star'? What the hell...? God... what a gay-ass teacher. He probably enjoys whipping people and then-"

"NARUMI! I KNOW YOU STOLE A BEEN WHIP FROM THE GREENHOUSE!" bellowed a voice behind Mikan as the door was opened with a bam.

Mikan winced at the loudness of his voice, and calmly turned around, "I'm afraid that Narumi-sensei is not here at the moment, but chatting with the 'Higher-ups' about my enrollment to this school. But when he comes back, I'll be sure to tell him you called, or rather, bellowed... Who may I say it was?"

"I'm Misaki-sensei, biology and science teacher here at Alice Academy. 'Plant Maipulation' alice. And who are you?" asked Misaki-sensei, still a little red in the face from anger.

"Sakura Mikan, new student here at Alice Academy. This here's Keiko." She gestured to the cub beside her on the couch.

Misaki frowned from the lack of information from this new girl, "Well then... I'm sorry for scaring you. I should-" his cell phone beeped, "_Gasp_! An intruder in the greenhouse? Sorry, but I gotta go!" he said as he ran out the door.

"... Guess it's just you and me, Tsu-chan," Mikan said to no one in particular as she rose from her couch and strolled to where Natsume lay, and just stared at him, "He looks like a little boy when he's sleeping." Mikan sat down on the same couch as him and took off her back pack to pull out her photo album. When she opened up to the first picture, she saw two babies, one with brown hair, and one with raven-colored hair, playing together in the sand. Mikan smiled. Next she saw two toddlers the age of three (she recognised them to be herself and Natsume), and a baby (whom she guessed was Aoi) eating fist fulls of cake. One of the toddlers, Natsume, had a birthday hat of saying, 'Birthday Boy!'. Underneath the picture it read: _This is you, Natsume, and Aoi enjoying Natsume's third birthday party cake. We love you sweetie! Happy Birthday, Natsume! _"Tch, yeah right... 'We love you' what a bunch of bull. I know _you _loved me, Mom. But that bastard sure didn't." she said bitterly. She looked at Natsume's unconscious form and noticed that his cheek was all scratched and bloody. She began to stoke it gently. Everywhere her fingers touched, it would begin to heal. Mikan turned back to the album and resumed to flip through pictures. She saw when they were five that she and Natsume were beaming because it was their first day of school and Aoi was pouting because she couldn't go with them. She saw a five year old Natsume cry because he stepped on his own strawberry, while Mikan gave him his and Aoi laughed. She saw her six year old self pose with Natsume, Aoi, and another six year old boy with blond hair, and cerulean blue eyes. He was holding up a frog and laughing. As were they all. 'Ruka-pyon' thought Mikan, 'You got taken away with Tsu-chan, didn't you? Are you here too?' she wondered. She flipped the next page, and saw her and Hotaru dancing on a stage. She remembered that night. They won a free ticket for food, "Ahh, Hotaru, you were always saying that money is your best friend." Suddenly she felt Natsume stiffen under her hand. Mikan guessed that she was stroking his cheek unconsciously. "Ah, you're finally awake, I see," she stated calmly without even looking at him. Mikan's album was suddenly tossed ad-hoc and she now found herself lying on the couch while Natsume was on top of her.

"Answer me in five seconds. Tell me who you are before I burn your hair," he said in a deadly voice, his crimson eyes burning with anger.

"Aww, you don't remember me? I'm hurt." she pouted, feigning hurt as she put a hand to her heart. His eyes raked up and down her body and smirked. Mikan shuddered in disgust. "Ah, Tsu-chan, still a pervert I see." She said as she patted his right cheek with her left hand and smiled as his eyes grew in recognition then they winced in pain. Mikan looked around to his leg which now had Keiko as an attachment. "Keiko, Don't bite people, please. It's not polite. Now say your sorry to-"

CRASH! The window had been shattered by a guy with blond hair and cerulean blue eyes. Two pairs of eyes looked up to see who it was, "Ah. Ruka, you're late."

"Geez, Natsume. Who's fault do you think that is? I shouldn't of helped you.." said the blonde and he stood up and rubbed his head.

"Tch. This idiot here held me up. She was here when I woke up."

"Who are you calling an idiot?" shouted Mikan.

"Whatever." said Natsume with a roll of his eyes, "Polka dots." he smirked.

"We were eight! My God, you're such a pervert! Get off me." huffed Mikan. And she slipped out of Natsume's human cage thing, and walked over to Ruka until they were a foot apart, "You look... familiar," she started slowly, in an indifferent voice, "What is your name?"

"Nogi Ruka.." he said as he watched her eyes light up and a smile dawn her features. He thought that she looked really pretty..

"Ruka-pyon?" she asked hoping against hope that it was him.

'What? Ruka-pyon? I haven't been called that in seven years. The only two people who ever called me that were Aoi and -' "Mi-chan?" he asked.

"Ruka-pyon!" she said before she hugged him.

"Ouch! Something bit me!" he yelped. He looked at his hand to find Keiko biting his thumb.

"Keiko! What have I told you about biting people! Apologize this instant!" Mikan ordered as she picked up Ruka's hand and healed it.

The sumatran tiger cub bowed it head low and quietly said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.. it's just that I don't want you to touch my new mommy."

Both olive and blue orbs widened in shock while red orbs were filled in confusion, "Keiko, don't worry, okay? Ruka-pyon's my friend, and you don't hurt my friends. But I'm happy that you apologized," she said as she scooped up the tiger cub in her arms and hugged her.

Ruka, on the other hand was dumbfounded, "You can - you can un-understand her?"

"Yes... can't you?" she said casually, "At first I was all like 'WTF'? I tiger is talking to me? But then I got used to it _Yawn_. Goodness, I'm tired. Oh wow, I'm tired! Did you hear that, Ruka-pyon? Tsu-chan? I'm tired! Ehehe! I haven't been tired in over ten years! What time is it?"

"..." 'What does she mean she hasn't been tired in over ten years?' both boys thought.

"As touching as this reunion is, we have to go, right Ruka-_pyon_? See ya, Polkadots," said Natsume as he made his way over to the broken window.

"Ri-right" said Ruka as Mikan pouted.

"... Bye.." said Mikan sadly as she watched her childhood friends disappear through the window and into the inky blackness of the night.

Just as she was getting up, Narumi and Misaki barged in the room shouting simultaneously, "WHERE ARE NATSUME AND RUKA?!"

"... They left via window. I too, would like to leave. I have to get up in four and a half hours."

After processing the information, Narumi skipped up to Mikan and said, "Mi-i-i-kan! Look what Sensei has brought for you, the newest student at Alice Academy!" and he whipped out the girls uniform from God knows where. Mikan eyed the navy ribbon, the black blazer, the ugly white blouse with the frilly collar, the mid-thigh length navy plaid skirt, all the way down to the black dress boots.

She twisted her face up in a look of disgust and said, "There's no way in hell I'm going to where _that_. Pointing at the uniform. Let me see the boys'."

Narumi look slightly disappointed, but Mikan wasn't bothered, 'Like hell I'm going to wear a skirt.' she thought. Narumi once again whipped out a uniform, but this this it had pants and looked much, _much_better. She placed Keiko on a couch and quietly told her to stay. "Much better. Please excuse me while I try this on." she said as she made her way to the same room Narumi went in to get her alice limiters. She shut the door quietly, slipped out of her shorts and her t-shirt, and put on the navy plaid pants, the white polo chemise. She turned down the collar, and buttoned it up, letting one button undone at the top so it wont be choking her or leave a red mark around her neck. Instead of tying the matching navy ribbon around her neck, she used that to tie up her mid-back length brown hair in a ponytail. Mikan put on the boots but found that the pants were too long to see them, so she rolled up her pants to her knees (where the boots ended) and re-opened the door and asked, "How do I look?" as she turned around completely, draping the blazer over her shoulder.

"You look like the cutest thing in the whole wide world!" cooed Narumi and he clapped his hands like a seal, 'She looks so much like _that person _it's scary.' "You know your entrance to this academy? It's been approved!" he paused to see the smile on Mikan's face, "We will contact your family for you," Her smile disappeared, bangs covering her eyes, "Eh? What's wrong, Mikan-chan?"

"I don't have any family" she said quietly. Then she said, "Well, could you please show me where I'm staying? I would like to get to sleep. I have to go to school tomorrow." she said as she placed the fallen photo album and her clothes in her back pack, and picked up Keiko.

Narumi immediately sobered and said, "Of course, Mikan-chan! Misaki, show Mikan to her dorm, please. She's in the 'Special' section. Bie Bie!" He waved frantically at the two retreating figures.

"Well... Is he normally like this... so... happy?" asked Mikan dully after they went down the long stretch of hallway.

Misaki-sensei nodded his head wearily, "Yeah, he was born like that, I guess..." 'Narcissistic bastard,' he thought. "Do you know what his alice is?" she shook her head. Misaki-sensei continued, "Pheromonal Inclanation."

"Oh, so dosen't that mean that he can allure people? Or is it just men?" 'Gay-ass teacher' she thought.

"You're right. Not just men, but everyone, too, regardless of gender...So, I hear you're a special star... How come?" They were now outside. Mikan took a deep breath to calm herself. She hated the dark so much. She hugged Keiko for solace. Keiko sensed her "Mommy's" discomfort, and began to lick her hand.

"I don't know. I guess because I'm smart and have lots of alices...?"

"'Lots of alices'? How many do you have?" He questioned as they drew nearer to the Middle school's dorms. Soon they were entering the building and walking towards the first flight of stairs.

"Six," replied Mikan sheepishly.

'_Six_? My God!' "Ah." He said as he spotted the alice-limiting earrings on her ears. They stayed silent for three flights of stairs, "This here's the 'Special' and 'Triple' floor," he said, gesturing to the long hallway. "Tomorrow you will start school and I will arrange the two representatives from Class B of the Middle school division to come and retrieve you at... say eight fifteen? Classes start at eight thirty." Misaki-sensei handed the key to her dorm and said, "This is your key to your room. Don't loose it. Good night." and stalked off down the hallway. Mikan watched him disappear before putting the key in the lock and unlocking it. She pushed the door oped and nearly dropped Keiko. The room was as large as her Ojii-san's house for crying out loud! It looked like the room was divided into mini rooms and it seemed that she was standing in the living room. With a flick of the light switch, everything became bright as she walked in and shut the door. There were two couches and a coffee table, then behind it was an island and a mini kitchen. Off to her left, there was a door which she presumed to be the bedroom, because it had the word 'BEDROOM' on it. To her right was another door. When opened, she found it to be a closet. For what, she didn't know. She crossed the room, and opened the bedroom and gasped. It was huge! In it was a walk-in closet the size of her old room, a dresser with a mirror, another door that led to a rather large bathroom, a king sized bed, and a nightstand beside it.

'Jeeze, I don't need this huge closet. All I have is like five articles of clothing.' she thought as she set Keiko down on the bed. Mikan removed the pack from her back and took out her clothes from today and tossed them on the bed and began to unpack the good tops, her jeans, the old t-shirts and running shorts in some drawers. She then went to the mini fridge and stuffed the steak and the tin in the fridge along with the bottle. She then returned to her room and looked at her nightstand. Her hand automatically went to her back pocket, where her pocket knife would always be, safely tucked away. But she couldn't find it. Mikan's eyes widened in panic, and she began to hyperventilate, "Oh fuck! I lost my knife! I lost my knife! Where is it? Okay, Mikan, calm down. Did you take out the knife when you changed clothes?" she asked herself as she racked her brain for the memories. She remembered taking the uniform she had on now, going to the little room and taking off her clothes to put these ones on. She didn't recall putting her knife in the back pocket if the uniform - "So it must be still in my back pocket of my shorts!" she exclaimed and practically lunged to her bed. throwing her shoes, and top astray, and lifting up her shorts in victory. "YES! I found it!" she cried as she pulled the silver pocket knife out from her back pocket, instantly relieved by the sight of it, "All hell would break loose if I lost it,' she thought as she placed her knife on the nightstand. 'Poo. I don't have any pyjamas. I suppose I could use one of my old shirts,' she decided. Mikan pulled opened her window, noticing that there was a large tree outside it, "Excuse me, but could you please tell me what time it is?" she asked it.

"One o'clock, miss," whispered the tree.

"Thank you," she said before closing the window and pulling down the blinds. She made her way over to the dresser again and pulled out one of her old tops before stripping down to her underwear and bra. Mikan pulled the top over her head and went out to the living room and turned off the light. Mikan took a quick intake of breath before she conjured up fireballs floating aimlessly in a line leading to her room. As she passed one, it would go out. Finally she pulled back her duvet and hopped into bed without disturbing Keiko. For the next four hours, Mikan lay awake, staring at the ceiling thinking about tomorrow, only dozing off for a few minutes the entire night. At five on the dot, her mental alarm clock went off, indicating it's time for training. So Mikan got up, without bothering to change, put on her running shorts and laced up her sneakers, and went out in the kitchen to fix herself a breakfast. She opened the cupboards and found every food imaginable, 'Cereal is good enough for me,' she thought as she pulled out a bowl and the box of cereal to pour in the bowl. "Spoon... where are the spoons?" she wondered aloud as she searched the drawers for the utensil, "Aha! Here they are.." she said as she out what she was looking for. Mikan grabbed a spoon and went to the mini fridge to retrieve the milk.

After eating her bowl of cereal, Mikan put the bowl in the sink, and jogged to her room to fetch her knife and safely tucked it in her sock under her foot. "Oh! I nearly forgot my key!" she reminded herself and hastily stuffed the key in her other sock. When she was sure that she was ready, she told a half asleep Keiko that she would be back around seven. As Mikan jogged down the hallway and down the three flights of stairs to the entrance to the Middle school dorms, she thought about her schedule, 'I'll run for half an hour, then I'll train for an hour, then I'll run back.. which should take half an hour.. so I should be gone for about two hours, until seven.' When she went outside, the sky was still dark, but not so much that Mikan was afraid. She looked to her left and saw woods, and looked to her right to see a large building about two miles away, so she went with the woods. Mikan inhaled the scent of morning and started running as fast as she could, which, by the way is pretty fast, dodging branches and hopping over roots of trees. After thirty minutes of running, Mikan came to a clearing, "Perfect," she said, not even winded from the run, and began to practice her martial arts. Mikan had gotten considerably better from the time she first started when she was eight.

A lot of things had happened in the past seven years of her life; her town had burnt down thanks to her, she had killed about fifty people, including her mother, Natsume's family, Ruka's father, and the bastard. Then, Tsu-chan had taken the blame for it and had to be sent away, along with her other best friend at the time, Ruka-pyon, while she was sent to live with her Ojii-san. When she had transferred schools, everybody wanted to be her friend, but she wouldn't let them, she felt that she couldn't do it, not after the fire. She would not let anyone get hurt because of her freakish ways. About a year later, Hotaru had befriended her and they became inseparable. She learned how to smile again, how to laugh. What it felt like to be happy. She soon had made friends with everyone in the class. Then when they were ten, she was almost raped, and murdered that man who tried to. Hotaru had seen the whole thing. Hotaru was there for her, and that, Mikan believed, was what made their friendship stronger. But then, when they were thirteen, Hotaru had to leave, too, leaving Mikan by herself. Then, just yesterday, her Ojii-san had died, no thanks to her. She should of healed him. Then he would still be there with her. Mikan's eyes welled up in tears as the past seven years flew before her. 'No. I can't cry. Crying is for babies. I am not a baby. I must be strong.' she thought as she performed her last kick-flip and ended with a punch. Mikan ran out of the woods, surprised that the sky had lightened in the two hours that she was in the forest for. She headed back to the dorm, but she tripped on her own two feet. 'Leave it to me to trip on my feet,' she thought bitterly. When she got up, she saw a lone cherry blossom tree that she must not have seen running into the forest. It'd be another month until the tree would be in full bloom. She always loved the month of May, everything having a new beginning. Just like she was now. Mikan turned her head away from it and continued to walk towards the dorm.

When she climbed up the last of the stairs, she fished out her key from her sock, opened her door, and stepped over the threshold to find Keiko pacing around the living room, "What are you doing?" she asked the cub.

Keiko snapped her head up and practically cried with joy to see her "Mommy" safe and sound, "Where have you been? I thought that you were dead!" Her soft voice sounded odd from anger and worry.

"I was training my martial arts. I do this everyday. I get up at five, warm up for thirty minutes, then I train for an hour, then I cool down for thirty minutes. Didn't I tell you that I'd be home at seven?" she asked as she kicked off her shoes and slipped out the knife from her other sock, placing both key and knife on the island.

"I was half asleep!" growled Keiko.

"Hmm. Some one's angry. Probably because you're hungry. Here, let me go get you your food," said Mikan. She walked to the mini fridge, got out the tin, and opened the lid. Mikan scooped out some of the powder and dumped it in her bottle. After that, she subconsciously made water fill the bottle. Mikan then screwed the top on, and shook it sevral times before she was sure that the solution was properly mixed. She held the bottle, warming it up without melting the plastic. "Come here, Keiko," she said as she sat on one of the white leather couches, patting her lap. Keiko happily went over to Mikan, and softly jumped on her and latched on to the bottle, hungrily drinking it's contents dry.

"Yummy! That was good," said Keiko happily.

"That's good to hear. Now, do you have to use the washroom before I go take my shower?" she asked, eyeing Keiko shake her head. "Cool. I'll be only ten minutes," she said from her room where she got her strawberry shampoo her soap, and her uniform along with new undergarments.

Mikan walked in the bathroom and turned on the water and stepped in. After washing her body and hair, Mikan stepped out of the shower and made all the water that was on her body come off to form a water sphere. She lowered her hand, and watched as the sphere lowered in time with the movement of her hand. Mikan let go of the water and watched splash on the sides of the shower and go down the drain. The brunette grabbed a towel off a rack and dried her hair. Since her hair was relatively straight, with the exception of the curls at the tips, Mikan raked a hand through her hair before she used the navy ribbon and tied her long hair in a high ponytail. She put on her bra and underwear, and put on her chemise, fixed the collar. She pulled on her rolled up pants and suddenly remembered her toothbrush. It was still in her back pack, along with her toothpaste. Mikan walked to her back pack, retrieved her toothbrush and toothpaste, and re-entered the bathroom. She squeezed the paste on her toothbrush, and brushed her teeth.

When Mikan exited the bathroom, she went back in her room to put on her boots. She did so, and went to the living room and sat on a large couch. Looking across the room, the LED clock that was on the microwave read 7:30. "Lovely. I have forty-five minutes to do nothing. Well, I suppose i could look at my photo album again. That's always fun." she thought aloud. Fifteen minutes later, she heard a bell sound off, then a monotone voice, "Breakfast is now ready,"

KNOCK! KNOCK! Mikan snapped her head in the direction of her door. She closed the album and set it aside, "C'mon, Keiko, time to go," she said as she glanced at the clock. It read 8:15.

"Representatives from Class B of the Middle School Division are here." said a monotone voice.

"Coming!" She yelled from her room where she grabbed her backpack and headed to the mini fridge to stuff the tin and bottle in it. Mikan sprinted to the door and threw it open, "Sorry to keep you so -" She stopped. Her eyes widened as wide as... saucers. "Hotaru?!" She thought about asking what she was doing here, but that would be a stupid question.

"Ugh" said Hotaru, although inwardly, she was weeping with joy and wanted to attack Mikan with a bear hug, and tell her how much she'd missed her. But she didn't. Mikan did, though. Hotaru felt herself being squeezed to death. "Can't... breath."

"Oh... ahahaha! Sorry Hotaru! I'm just so glad to see you! It's been.. what? Nearly two years? My, how you've grown... but you're still shorter than me I see." Mikan said with a big smile. She embraced her friend again, only more gently this time. "Well, are you two going to show me where the class is? I hear that school starts in fifteen minutes.."

"Yeah, we are... But, why are you wearing the boys' uniform?" asked a neat-yet-cool looking guy with round spectacles.

"Because I don't like skirts," Mikan stated simply, "Should we get going now?" She asked as she grabbed her knife and key from the island, put them in her back pocket, hooked her back pack over her shoulder, picked up Keiko, and went back outside again to shut the door.

They travelled down the stairs and out the building's front entrance in silence before Hotaru asked, "What are you doing in a Special's room, Dummy?"

"Because that's where the gay-ass teacher placed me.." replied Mikan indifferently.

"Naru?" asked Hotaru.

"The very same."

"WHOA!" cried the guy, "Are those _all _alice limiters?" He asked, pointing to her earrings.

"They are,"

"How many do you have?" he cried.

"Six."

"_Six_?!" he repeated incredulously, "I've heard of people who have _three_ but never _that _many! No wonder you're a Special."

"..." said the girls.

After five minutes of walking, they came to another building, "This is the Middle school," said Glasses.

He lend them down a hallway or two, turning left, and turning right, up a flight of stairs, then stopped so suddenly Mikan bumped into him, "Sorry! Are you ok-?"

"It's alright, it's alright, I'm okay. Any who, I'm Tobita Yuu, but you can call me Iinchou, that's what everybody else calls me. Hotaru and I will go tell Sensei that you are here, and he will introduce you to the class. Don't be scared of them... they're a good buch of people. Good luck!" he said, with little sparkles around his head. Hotaru hit him and told him to shut up as both she and Yuu entered the classroom, leaving a slightly nervous Mikan waiting outside the wooden doors.

"Okay, class, settle down, settle down, today, we're having a new student! Her name is Sakura Mikan! Everybody be nice to her!" Mikan heard Narumi-sensei say through the door, "Mikan-chan! Come he-e-e-re!".

'God...' she thought as she rolled her eyes and pushed the doors open. She had her head down and walked to the teacher's desk.

"Everyone, this is Mikan-chan, Mikan-chan, this is everyone," Narumi said brightly. Mikan raised her head to look at Narumi.

"Ahh!" She yelled, putting her right arm up to shield Keiko, "What the fuck are you wearing?!"

"Why, this is my normal attire," he chuckled, pointing to the frilly black-and-white maid's dress complete with a matching frilly hat/beret. Everybody laughed. "Quiet, class, please. Mikan will introduce herself to you. Mikan?"

--

**Review please**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Well, this chapter's up... I know it's shorter that my last two.. but ahh well. So, I'll probably post the next chapter on Saturday, because school starts tomorrow for me. My sister went today. Hehehe. Oh! And I found out who Gauken Alice belongs to... hold on, I'll put it in the disclaimer before I go off for supper..  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice, that belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, not me.

**Alice Academy  
3**

_When you're own have died  
When there's no more pride  
When your soul is frozen  
Is that enough?  
When your heart is broken  
A thousand times  
With every moment  
Is that enough?  
_

_"Why, this is my normal attire," he chuckled, pointing to the frilly black-and-white maid's dress complete with a matching frilly hat/beret. Everybody laughed. "Quiet, class, please. Mikan will introduce herself to you. Mikan?"_

--

'Crap.' she thought, "Sakura Mikan. Fifteen years old. This here's Keiko," she said gesturing to the cub, "Hurt her and I'll kill you." she said calmly. Everyone started to whisper.

"Why is she wearing the boys' uniform?" she hear one whisper.

"Dude! Look at her! She soo hot!"

'Hot?' she thought, 'Pfft.. as if.'

"What's your star rank?" asked a girl with pink hair.

"Special."

"Whoa. What's your alice?" said a guy with dirty blond hair and a stupid grin.

'Do I really have to tell them? Can't they see the alice limiters I'm wearing?' she thought.

"Do I really have to tell them? Can't they see the alice limiters I'm wearing?" said Mr. Stupid Grin, "Oh yeah! I can see your earrings! Each color represents an alice, right? Awesome! You have five alices?!" Everyone whispered.

"Six," she stated blankly.

"Really? Can you tell us, please? And show us a demonstration?" asked the pink haired girl, blue eyes shining in awe.

"I suppose. Sensei? Where do I sit?" she asked, ignoring them completely and turning to Narumi.

"In the back, Mikan-chan! Over there where the window is." he said merrily as he pointed to a vacant seat in the back. "I have to go now. Pressing matters need to be attended to, so this is going to be a free period! Bye!"

She gave a small nod in his direction, and stood in front of the classroom. "Wind." She pointed to the white earring. "Water." She pointed to the blue earring. "Fire." She pointed to the red one. "Earth." she pointed to the green limiter. "Healing." she pointed to the yellow/orange earring. "Nullification." she stated.

"Oh wow! That's so amazing! I wish I had all those alices!" said one girl with red hair.

Mikan's eye twitched, "The wind alice. What would you like me to do? Create a hurricane? Suffocate someone?" she said in a joking tone, though her eyes were dark. She made the wind blow around the classroom, causing papers to fly everywhere. "Water alice. Should I create a tsunami? Drown someone while their feet are on the ground, miles away from any water? Or what about creating an earthquake or making the earth open up and swallow you whole with the earth alice?" Her voice had dropped dangerously low, almost growling now, "Or maybe I should start a forest fire, or burn an intire village to ashes." She held out her hand, a flame now burning in her outstretched palm. She put her other hand on the tip of the flame and made water pour, putting out the flame. "You think I'm happy with these 'alices'? If I could I would give them to you without a second thought." 'Mikan! You can't take your anger out on people! Don't let your emotions get the better of you.' she scolded. Mikan took a steadying breath, and continued, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't let my emotions get the better of me. My next two alices are rather simple, I suppose. With the healing alice, I can heal anything and anyone, regardless of injury. But with being able to heal, I also feel their pain. For example: If someone kicked you in the shin, and you were in a fifty mile range of myself, I too would feel the pain of your shin in my head. On to my next alice, nullification. Any volunteers?" she asked. Mr Stupid Grin slowly raised his hand.

"The name's Kokoro Yome. Alice is 'Mindreading'. I get lots of headaches because people think too loud. I have one right now because everyone is thinking about the new student... which is you.. Ehehehe..."

"Yeah... My head hurts as much as yours does... Well, I can fix that." she said as she made her way to Koko. Mikan now stood directly in front of his desk and thought, 'Now you won't be able to read other people's minds for a few hours.' She held up a hand, and watched as he cringed. 'Idiot. I'm not going to hurt you.' she thought and placed her index finger briefly on his forehead, temporarily nullifying his alice.

"AHH! WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO?! I CAN'T USE MY ALICE!"

"... Isn't that what you wanted? I simply nullified it, dear. Relax, It's not like it's gone forever.. Just for an hour or two." she whispered as she passed him to her seat. When she got to her seat, she plopped herself down and set Keiko on the desk. She looked to her left to see who her seatmates were. The one directly beside her had a manga over his face, obviously sleeping. The person next to him was - "Ruka-pyon!" she said happily, "I'm looking forward to sitting next to you. Is this Natsume?" She said as she lifted up the manga from his face, "So it is Tsu-chan!" She smiled at him.

Natsume, on the other hand, looked pissed. No one, I repeat, _no one_, has ever, _ever_, taken his manga away from him because they knew that if they did, they would have to face the wrath of Natsume. Everyone gasped at the new girl's actions. "Give. It. Back." he growled as she began to read it.

"Aladin and the Magic Lamp? Ahahaha!" laughed Mikan, completely ignoring Natsume's order. Natsume tried throwing punches at her, but thanks to her training, she dodged them very easily all the while reading the manga.

On the other side of the room, Hotaru watched the scene thinking, 'Of all the people you had to annoy, why the most dangerous?' She knew she couldn't do anything because if she interfered, she might lose the Honor Student Award. And she really wanted to see her parents again.

"Give it back or I'll burn you hair." he threatened.

"Tch, like hell you will. I'd like to see you try." She retorted as she nullified Natsume's alice.

'Damn it! I can't create fireballs!' he thought, 'She's too quick for me to -'

"Natsume-sama! Is this ugly hag bothering you?" asked a guy with a buzz cut.

'No shit.' thought Natsume.

But then, Mikan burst out laughing as what Buzz Cut had said registered in her mind, "AHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAH! Natsume-_sama_? HAHAHAHA! That's just too funny! And who are you to call me - whoa!" Mikan could now be seen floating upside down in the air, with Buzz Cut lifting his hand up, directing Mikan to where she was to float.

"You are being punished for acting out to Natsume-sama. " he said. Mikan simply gave him a look that said W-T-F?

"AHAHA!" screeched a voice.

"Shouda!" cried Iinchou.

'Shouda' turned out to be a girl who looked to be about Mikan's age or a year older. She had seaweed-green hair which was permed at the end. "Good thinking, Mochu! Nobody messes with Natsume-sama!" she turned to face Natsume, "Right, Natsume-kun? she said in a sickly sweet voice and batted her eyelashes in what she probably thought was a seductive manner. "Ahh! My hair!" she screamed as the tip of her green permed hair that was now on fire. Mikan snickered.

"Throw her out the window!" shouted someone.

_"Sigh_, did you not just here what my alices are? Let me down, or I'll burn you to a crisp._" _Mikan ordered in a deadly voice.

"Stop it! Please! Mochu, let Sakura-san down!" pleaded Iinchou frantically. No one listened to him, instead, they laughed.

"What'cha gonna do about it? Huh, Iinchou? Use _your _alice to get her down?" sneered Mochu as he made Mikan do a flip. Natsume snapped his fingers, and Mochu nodded, taking his powers off Mikan to let her drop.

In the background, Permy could be seen with hearts in her eyes, saying, "Oohh you're so kind, Natsume-kun!"

"Ahh!" cried Mikan as she fell from a good twelve feet in the air. She tried to use her wind alice, but it wasn't strong enough to hold her up. 'Damn alice limiters.' she thought bitterly, 'Besides, I'll only feel pain for a brief moment before it healed itself..'

"Oof!" cried someone as Mikan landed in their outstretched arms.

Mikan's eyes widened as she realised that she had been caught by someone and now she was being held by the person, bridal style, with her arms around their neck, clinging on for dear life. She looked at the person who caught her. "Iinchou! Are you okay? Thanks for catching me" she said quietly as she released her vice-like grip on his neck, and jumped out of his arms. She looked up to see him as red as a tomato. She thought it was funny, but she kept her mask of shock plastered on her face.

"Y-you're wel-welcome, Sakura-san," he stuttered. Every one laughed openly and began to tease him about his blushing. This made Mikan very mad.

"What age are you? Five? I thought that you'd all be more mature than to tease some one because they blush, or to bully someone because they read a damn manga from you _precious leader_, for Christ's sake. If I've learned anything about my stay here, it's that most of you alices think you're so damn high and mighty! Well, guess what? Alice's aren't that important you know.." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a hand making it's way to slap her, so she took a step back, the hand missing her by inches.

As it turns out, the one who was going to slap her was seaweed hair. "'Aren't that important'?!" she shrieked. "Of course we alices are important you retard! Us Alices are _elites_ recognized and protected by the government. _Alices_ have made important and enormous accomplishments in _many _fields such as art, politics, and education. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that we're great. Those who aren't alices are merely parasites who gather around them to gain their benefits, or to be like wittle worker ants, and to _serve _us great alices! We alices are greater than those ordinary, replaceible people. Everybody in this school has the same belief." said stated, drawing a close to her little speech, smirking in satisfaction as Mikan slumped to the ground, taking deep breaths to calm herself. It wouldn't work out too well if her temper got the better of her. Keiko was in front of Mikan, growling and hissing for all she was worth.

'No. I know Hotaru doesn't believe that. And I certainly don't.'

"You should believe that, too, as you're one of us now. And if you don't, well, then you're a worthless piece of shit." That certainly did it. Mikan slowly lifted her head up, her eyes holding a murderous glint. She was _really _pissed now. Sure, that little prank with her up in the air had annoyed her, but now that ugly hag had crossed the line, sounding too much like that bastard of a father that she killed seven years ago. Instead of seeing the classroom, she saw the face of her father and her former living room. Hotaru was now standing behind Mikan and watched her as she stood up slowly, reached for her pocket knife, and withdrew it, flicking up the blade and Permy screamed in terror as she realised what her motives were, "Holy shit! She's got a knife! She's crazy!"

"AHH!" Mikan screamed, "You're supposed to be dead!" Everyone looked at each other with confused eyes. Permy wasn't supposed to be dead. But Mikan didn't see Permy. Instead, she saw her supposed-to-be-dead father, smirking at her, telling her that she was worthless and ugly, and that he was going to have some "Fun" with her. "Get-GET AWAY FROM ME!"she shrieked, backing up, her whole body visibly shaking. "I killed you. I know I did. Have you come back to beat me again?" she sobbed. Her voice was barely above a whisper, yet the whole class could hear, intrigued by what had caused this sudden outburst of behavior. Mikan gave a battle cry and lunged at Shouda, knife in position to stab. Natsume and Ruka watched in horror as the scene progressed, wondering who she had supposedly killed and who had beaten her.

"AHHH! SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!!" she shrieked.

Suddenly a guy with a mushroom cut cried, "Don't hurt her!" and jumped towards Mikan, diverging her from her path. Mushroom Cut was on top of her, ready to punch her when suddenly, he was thrown away by the force of Hotaru's horse-hoof glove. She knew that Mikan's father was dead from the fire, and she knew that he would beat her and kick her, but she didn't know that Mikan _killed _him.

"Snap out of it." said Hotaru, her mask of indifference now shattered, her face full of concern and worry as she shook her best friend.

Mikan saw the living room morph to a classroom where she saw a mesh of scared faces, and burst into tears. 'I can't let the people see me like this. It's a sign of weakness,' she thought. Mikan shakily got up, said a quiet "Sorry" to no one in particular, and ran out of the room.

Mikan ran down the hallways that twisted and turned, tears blurring her vision. She heard someone call after her, but she paid them no heed. Finally she burst the doors open to the outside, looked to her right, and continued to run until she came to a clearing in the Northern Forest. But Mikan had yet to learn that the forest was off limits.

Hotaru watched in horror as her best friend ran out the classroom. She heard Iinchou yell, "Sakura-san!" but she knew it was no use. So she grabbed hold of Iinchou's hand and ran out the classroom to follow her friend. "Mikan!" she yelled. No response.

Ruka watched as his childhood friend ran out the classroom, followed seconds later by Imai-san and Iinchou. He looked to Natsume, and Natsume looked back at him. They both nodded in agreement to go after Mi-chan. They swiftly got up, but Ruka was stopped by a small voice. "Ex-excuse me... Where did my Mommy go?" Ruka looked down to find probably the worlds cutest tiger cub. He gently picked it up, little stars and flowers forming in the background.

"Don't worry, we'll find her." he assured her. Ruka followed Natsume out of the classroom with Usagi-chan and Keiko in his arms.

Hotaru and Iinchou followed Mikan into the clearing where they found Mikan sitting up in the fetal position, rocking back and forth as she had her head cradled in-between her knees, silent sobs racking her body. Hotaru knew that this was no time to say that she was ugly when she cried. She just had a hallucination of the father that she had murdered. No wonder that she was crying. She had such a terrible past. No one deserved that. Hotaru and Iinchou ran over to Mikan an began to comfort her.

Mikan could feel multiple footsteps. 'People are coming,' she thought. 'I don't care if they see me like this.' Two people were already at her side, comforting her. They were Hotaru and Iinchou. She was glad that Iinchou didn't ask any question. She would tell him when she was ready. Same goes for Hotaru. She knew that Hotaru knew that she killed a man, that she was almost raped, and that her father beat her, and now, that she killed him. That was it. But she didn't know that he also raped her, too, or that she burnt down her entire village in one night.

Hotaru hugged her best friend, Iinchou rubbing soothing circles on her upper back as Mikan cried on her shoulder.

"What happened?" asked a voice. Hotaru, Mikan, and Iinchou looked up to see worried crimson eyes before they went back to being indifferent. "Oi, Polka Dots, stop crying. You look even uglier when you cry.." Wrong thing to say. At this statement, Mikan cried even harder. Natsume felt guilt creep up on him like a cat would pounce a rat. Totally unexpected. The Mikan he knew would probably kick him. But then again, that was over seven years ago. Things change. He heard Mikan say, "It's my fault, it's my fault," over and over like a broken record. "Oi! What's your fault?"

"That they're dead...all my fault... I killed them, but that bastard of a father deserved to die," she muttered darkly.

Natsume's eyes widened. He knew that her father probably beat her, he could hear Mikan's screams in the dead of night, pleading her father to stop hurting her. Did she kill him because of that? "What did he do to deserve to die?" he asked, hoping that it wasn't something worse.

"Y-you don't nee_-hic-_need to know." hiccoughed Mikan. "You don't need to concern yourself with my problems..." she mumbled. By this point, Mikan had stopped crying.

"Why won't you tell me?" he asked, crouching so that he was eye-level with Mikan.

Mikan kept her head low and said, "Everyone has their secrets, Natsume."

'Damn it, she not going to tell me. Well, if she won't tell me willingly, I guess I'll just have to force it out of her.' decided Natsume. He grabbed hold of Mikan's arms and hauled her up and dragged her to the middle of the clearing. He could see Iinchou and Hotaru stand up as well, 'Perfect,' he thought, and inwardly smirked. His exterior expression was dangerous as he made a ring of fire appear around Iinchou and said in a very threatening voice, "Tell me what he did, or I'll burn Iinchou."

"Natsume, don't," said Mikan flatly as she Nullified the fire. Natsume made another one, this time the flames hotter, taller, and the ring smaller, burning Iinchou slightly on the leg. Both Mikan and Iinchou cried out at the pain. Still Mikan didn't budge. Natsume made a second ring of fire around Hotaru and deliberately put a fire on her hand. Hotaru winced, while Mikan was screaming. Her pain combined with Iinchou's hurt. "That's enough, Natsume," she said in a shaky voice.

"I won't stop until you tell me why your father deserved to die." This time, Natsume went so far as to even burn Keiko's tail. Ruka urgently went over to help the little creature.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" screamed Mikan, nullifying all the fires, the smell of burning flesh lingering in the air, "You wanna know why that bastard deserved to die?!" she spat, "Do you _know _what he would do to me? He would stab me," she pulled out the pocket knife and plunged the blade in her arm, and hauled it back out, "Cut me," she slashed open her arm several times, watching as each one would seal up, "Kick me, and - and rape" she whispered so low that you'd have to be right beside her to hear it. Somehow, Natsume did hear. He felt bile rise in his esophagus, threatening to come up and higher if he opened his mouth. He could hear Iinchou sobbing, and Hotaru was comforting him while Mikan was healing Hotaru's burnt hand and Iinchou's burn on his leg. 'How could anyone do that to their own child? I always thought that their family was the best. Mikan was always the perfect little girl, she was always cheery, despite everything that the bastard has done. I'm glad he's dead.' he thought.

When Mikan was finished healing her friends, she hugged them both and whispered, "I'm glad you're both okay." She saw Ruka walk up to her, a sleeping Keiko in his hands. "How did you get her to go to sleep?"

"I used my alice," he replied, reluctantly handing over the cub to Mikan.

Mikan cocked her head to the side in confusion, "What _is _your alice anyways, Ruka-pyon?"

He blushed, "Well, you know Narumi's alice?" he paused so she could nod, "Well, I have the animal version,"

"Oh wow! That's so -" Mikan cut herself off because she could feel the ground vibrate. She was sure that everyone else did to. You didn't need the earth alice to feel _that _from the ground.

"PYO! PYO!" chirped something. Suddenly the source of the noise emerged into the clearing.

"AHHH!" screamed Mikan and Iinchou, hugging each other in fright, squishing Keiko. Hotaru and Natsume, on the other hand were as indifferent as always, while Ruka's eyes widen at the lovely sight of the hundred and fifty foot mutated chick. Hotaru whipped out a tranquilizer dart and was aiming for the chick when Mikan saw her. "Hotaru! Don't do that, you might hurt it! Ruka-pyon!" she said, now behind Hotaru, "Why don't you use your alice to make the chick to go away?" she suggested.

"But if you don't want to do this, I will. Besides, I like eating chicken." said Hotaru blandly.

"Monster! Ruka-pyon! Do you want the chick to die? You have to use your alice!" cried Mikan.

Once again, Ruka blushed, "Al-alright, but you have to promise not to look!"

Mikan gave Ruka a salute and said, "Yes sir!" as everyone else said, "Yeah, sure, whatever..." Hotaru, Mikan, Iinchou, and Natsume went behind a tree as Ruka stepped in front of the chick. Mikan looked around the tree, looking to see what Ruka would do. "You know, Hotaru, this would be a very good time to get some pictures of Ruka-pyon to blackmail and sell..." said Mikan as she watched Hotaru's eyes turn to rabbit signs and whipped out her camera. Mikan went back to watching Ruka.

Ruka's eyes became all glaze over as a goofy grin was spread over his face, " What beautiful fluffy feather you have there little chick."

"PYO!" the chick said lovingly. In the background, Mikan was silently laughing while Hotaru was snapping pictures like there was no tomorrow.

"Let's... Let's play together!" he said as he laughed giddily and jumped into the chick's arms. Ruka and the chick spun around while on the ground, Mikan, Iinchou, Hotaru, and even Natsume were shocked white.

High school students from the animal club came up to Ruka and the chick and said, C'mon, Tweety, it's feeding time," leaving Ruka and Tweety to say their goodbyes.

"Je t'aime, mon amour, ca va!" cried Ruka. He turned around to see Natsume, Mikan, Iinchou, and Hotaru all staring at him.

"..." they said.

"Well, they way things turned out, it looks like your troubles were not needed, Ruka-poo," said Hotaru.

"You promised... You promised not to look," said Ruka, his bangs covering his eyes.

"Pfft. I-I'm so-sorry, Ruka-Ruka-pyon," her eyes tearing up from holding in the laughter, "It's just... just too funny.. ahahahahahahaha!"

Having enough, Ruka stood up to run away, and successfully got about five feet before he fell in a hole that Mikan had just made using her earth alice. Mikan ran over to where Ruka fell, "Are you alright? You shouldn't run away like that..." She hauled him up out of the hole. He turned away to run again, but he was stopped by someone grabbing his wrist.

He turned around to see Hotaru holding up a picture of him and Tweety, happily playing together like there was no tomorrow, "IMAI! Give me back that picture, damn it!"

"No. I can make a profit off of this. No way in hell you're getting this back." she said as she turned around and began to build a make-shift selling stand. She just put the finishing touches on her sign: Nogi Ruka pictures, now on sale.

"Hey look, Ruka pyon! You're forest friend have come to say hewo to you!" cried Mikan as she lifted up a little raccoon. It made raccoon noises, but Ruka could understand it to be saying hello. Mikan watched as he turned his head away from the racoon. "What? Such different treatment from the chick! This is discrimination!" she pouted. She she saw that Ruka was acutually upset, she put down the raccoon and attacked Ruka with a hug, saying, "Oh Ruka-pyon! I'm sorry for teasing you! It's just that when I saw you with the chick, I was reminded of when you young... You were such a simple and foolish youngster! Teehee! And not like the indifferent and cold person that you portray youself to be now!", she gave him a big smile, and finished her sentence while Ruka blushed for the third time that day, "I'm glad that you've shown your true self!" Then, some animals gathered around her and they began to sing, rather badly, mind you. Mikan is a terrible singer. "You don't have to pretend to be mean. Everybody here already knows it that you're an animal-loving boy."

His blush soon dissapeared and shouted, "What?!" and turned his head away.

"Jeeze, Ruka-pyon, you don't have to ignore me..." said Mikan, putting an arm around his shoulder.

Grumble. Everyone looked to Hotaru's stomach. "What... I'm hungry," she said plainly.

"Oh my! Let me all get you guys some food. I'm the one that got you here in the first place... it's the least I could do," said Mikan as she walked a little ways from the tiny group, and kneeled down on the grass, concentrating hard on blueberries growing out of the ground. Nothing. 'Damn.' she thought. 'I'll take out one of my alice limiters... now which one's green? Wind, water, fire, earth.. Right! The fourth one.' she thought. Mikan extracted her fourth earring and once again resumed concentrating on the ground for blueberries to grow. Within seconds, a small blueberry plant sprouted out of the ground, growing blueberries at a very fast pace. Soon the whole bush was covered in blueberries. She picked everyone of them off and watched as more grew. She took off one of her wind earrings and made the wind carry the berries to Ruka's lap. "I know how much you like blueberries, Ruka. You still like them, right?" she asked. He nodded, "That's good. If you want more, you can always go pick some more Hotaru, I'll make you some grapes and pears, and you Natsume strawberries. Iinchou, what would you like?"

"An apple would be fine, thank you," he said. Mikan nodded and set to work making a grape vine, pear tree, apple tree, and a strawberry bush. She gave Natsume all the strawberries on the bush, gave Iinchou five apples, Hotaru two bunches of grapes and three pears, and she got some more strawberries for herself. '_Sigh_, I love strawberries,' she thought blissfully as she bit into her favorite fruit. Even the smell sent her tastebuds tingling.

"Here, Keiko, have a strawberry," she said and passed the red berry to the tiger.

"Mmm.. they're so good!" replied Keiko.

"I know, aren't they?" exclaimed Mikan as she took a bite of her own strawberry. Suddenly, she swallowed hard and said, "Shit! I forgot my back pack!" 'How could I have been so stu-' "Oof! My back pack!" she shouted in glee. She looked up to see Natsume with his bangs covering his eyes. "Hey, Tsu-chan, did you bring my back pack with you?"

"Hn."

"Thanks," she said softly. "Hey, Natsume, can I ask you a question?"

"Hn... whatever.

"Why does everybody in our class calls you 'Natsume-sama'? You're always bossing everybody around. You should stop that. It's not nice..."

"You don't know anything. Don't insult Natsume.." said Ruka.

"I'm not.. All I'm saying is th-"

"There's no way you'll understand how Natsume feels... about the alice he didn't want,"

"Heh," she sneered, "You don't think I know, do you? WELL HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE MY ALICES AND BE A FUCKING MURDERER? WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW THAT YOU'RE THE ONE THAT CAUSED AN EARTHQUAKE THAT KILLED OVER THREE HUNDRED PEOPLE BECAUSE YOU STOMPED YOUR FOOT TOO HARD? WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW THAT YOU STARTED A FIRE THAT KILLED YOUR MOTHER AND FIFTY OTHER INNOCENT PEOPLE BECAUSE YOU WERE ANGRY? YOU DON'T THINK I UNDERSTAND? I DON'T THINK THE TWO OF _YOU _UNDERSTAND!" she yelled. Mikan turned on her heel, and jogged off into any direction to get her away from here, leaving Ruka and the others behind. Mikan soon found herself walking along a path. "Damn it, Mikan! You have _got _to stop letting your anger get the better of you and saying whatever pops up in your mind. Crap. I've even forgot Keiko and my back pack. What type of person am I? God, I'm so irresponsible. I think I'll go apolo...gize. What the heck? Why is there a moving teddy bear?" said Mikan as she regarded the plush toy with the evil glint in it's eyes.

--

**Review please**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Sorry it's so late, guys. Last week I got kicked off the computer, then when I could have it back, the same night, I got kicked off it again. Heh. But now, I'm back on it, so yay! I've reviewed all the previous chapters, and edited them. So, enjoy.  
**Disclaimer:**I don't own Gakuen Alice.

**Alice Academy  
4**

_I do not want to be afraid  
I do not want to die inside just to breathe in  
I'm tired of feeling so numb  
Relief exists I find it when I am cut.  
_

_Mikan turned on her heel, and jogged off into any direction to get her away from here, leaving Ruka and the others behind. Mikan soon found herself walking along a path. "Damn it, Mikan! You have_ got _to stop letting your anger get the better of you and saying whatever pops up in your mind. Crap. I've even forgot Keiko and my back pack. What type of person am I? God, I'm so irresponsible. I think I'll go apolo...gize. What the heck? Why is there a moving teddy bear?" said Mikan as she regarded the plush toy with the evil glint in it's eyes._

--

Mikan quickly ran up to the bear and started to prod it, thinking that someone had merely left this toy and that it was remote controlled.

Meanwhile, at the school's main building in the staff room, a teacher by the name of Yamada Serina was gazing into her crystal ball. More specifically, she was looking at Mikan in the forest with Bear-san. "Naru! Come and look at this. The new student is in the Northern Forest with the bear! What should we do?" she asked him frantically.

Narumi, on the other hand, just shrugged, "She'll be okay, but I think I'll go see what's going on," he said, thinking about the time when she hit the pressure point of Natsume, 'She obviously knows some self defence.' Narumi-sensei walked out the staff door and headed outside.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mikan spotted a fist coming towards her. Just as it was about to make contact with her cheek, she caught it, which greatly surprised Bear-san. Mikan flipped back and got in a stance to fight. Bear, taking this as an invitation, eagerly charged at her with his fists and began to strike. Mikan dodged the hits, adding a few of her own. She did a back handspring kick, sending Bear 20 feet away.

As Mikan an the bear continued to fight, Hotaru, Ruka, Iinchou, and Natsume were all walking on the same path that Mikan took about ten minutes ago. 'Gee, I didn't know that I'd upset Mikan _that _much. I suppose I should go apologize.' thought Ruka. Soon the group came across Bear-san's house along with Mikan. "Oh my God! M-M-Mikan-chan's fighting Bear-san! We have to help her!" cried Iinchou, grabbing onto Hotaru's shoulders.

"Calm down. Mikan knows how to take care of herself," said Hotaru calmly, in her monotonous voice. She knew that Mikan had been training in martial arts for over seven years. "Let go of me, you dummy. You're ruining my uniform. Now you have to pay me 50 rabbits for the dry cleaning." Iinchou sweat-dropped as Hotaru held out her hand to be paid. He sighed, and handed her the 50 rabbits. He knew that he'd have to pay her sooner or later. And if her paid her later, then he'd pay with interest. "A wise choice, Iinchou." said Hotaru as she stuffed the money in her pocket. She then whipped out her Caterpillar Sleeping Bag Shelter No. 1 and quickly got in it, to shelter herself from the bear should it grow tired with fighting Mikan.

Both Natsume and Ruka were very surprised to see Mikan's skill in fighting. They didn't know that she could fight. They watched silently in awe as Mikan fought the bear with the greatest of ease.

'Now, what is the weakness of plush? Well, plush is made out of cotton, I guess... so water?' thought Mikan as she dodged a kick. "Listen, Bear, you're really good at martial arts... So I was wondering, could I come here every morning and fight you? I promise not to use any of my alice's on you, or you can beat me up, if you like." she said slowly, hoping that the bear would agree. Bear-san, supposedly in thought, finally nodded his head once, as if to give the OK. 'YESS!' thought Mikan. "Thank you, Bear-san. You are a good fighter," she said as she bowed. "Hotaru, Iinchou, Ruka, Natsume, I know you're hiding in the bushes. Come out, please." said Mikan without turning around.

Slowly, they stepped out into the filtered green of the dense forest light. Iinchou charged at Mikan with teary eyes and latched onto her, "Oh Mikan! I thought you were gonna die!" he cried. Mikan gave him a heart-warming smile.

"Relax, Iinchou, I can take care of myself," she said softly as she hugged him. Everyone was watching Mikan and Iinchou, that they failed to notice the rising temperature. Natsume had suddenly got infuriated by the mere sight of Mikan hugging Iinchou.

BOOM. Natsume's anger got the better of him, and his alice created a mini explosion like the night before. Sirens wailed loudly. Every ones eyes widened. 'It's good that no one was hurt... I'd better go before the person I dislike a lot comes to get me.' thought Natsume. He stood up, and turned around facing Mikan, "Oi, Polka Dots, you're going to regret ever coming to this school by your own will." He then turned around, and began to run deeper into the forest.

"Natsume!" cried Ruka in vain. Receiving no answer, Ruka set down the tiger cub he was holding, and ran after Natsume, leaving Hotaru, Iinchou, and Mikan. Upon seeing Keiko, Mikan swiftly picked her up and hugged her, saying that she was very sorry and irresponsible for leaving her alone.

"It's okay, Mi-chan, just don't do it again, please," said the tiger cub softly.

"Don't worry, I won't," she said before she changed the subject, only just realising that Natsume and Ruka were missing. "Eh? Where did Tsu-chan and Ruka-pyon get to?" she asked, pulling a confused face.

"To get away from the person they dislike the most," said a voice. The trio turned around to face Narumi.

"Eh? Who would that be?" asked Mikan, still confused.

"Some one you needn't concern yourself with.." said Narumi airily.

"..."

"How about we all go back, eh? You guys have been in the woods for nearly four hours! Normally, you would have school at a time like this... but every Thursday, you get last period off!" cried Narumi, abruptly changing the subject.

"Cool. Whatever," said Hotaru and Mikan.

"Oh! You're right! I can't believe I skipped classes!" was Iinchou's response.

"Let's go." said Hotaru dully. Mikan and Iinchou nodded, and followed in silence.

"Hey, Hotaru, I need to get my back pack," stated Mikan as she began walking towards the clearing where she previously was when a hand grabbed her wrist and spun her around. It was Hotaru.

"Here." she said blandly as she tossed Mikan's backpack to her. She watched as her best friend caught her back pack and mumbled a soft thanks, before turning and leading Mikan and Iinchou out of the forest.

When they walked past the school, Iinchou said that he had to go to a meeting of sorts, leaving Hotaru and Mikan, as Narumi had disappeared, walking towards the dormitories in silence, even Keiko didn't make a sound. 'Thursday... I wonder if Hotaru will remember?' thought Mikan.

'I wonder if the robots have stocked up on crab brains. It is Thursday, after all.' thought Hotaru.

As they climbed up the three flights of stairs to where the rooms of Special and Triple stars sleep, all that could be heard was the clicks from their shoes. They separated, standing at their respective doors and bid adieu, "Bye, Hotaru... S'later," said Mikan as she opened her door and entered. Mikan decided that she would stay in her room for the rest of the day, seeing that there was nothing to do. Setting Keiko down on the couch, she opened up the mini fridge and got out the powder and bottle for her little cub. After adding water from the tap and shaking it, she used the microwave to heat up the solution. 'Why hurt myself when I have all the things I need here without using my alices?' she thought.

At eight o'clock that evening, just as Mikan was eating her ramen noodles, a knock sounded from her door. Setting down her spoon, Mikan crossed the room and opened the door to reveal Hotaru clad in pyjamas, with a sleeping bag tucked under her arm. "Hotaru?" questioned Mikan as she stood in shock.

"Well, are you going to let me in, or do I have to sleep outside?" asked Hotaru impatiently. This snapped Mikan out of her trance.

"Oh! Oh, okay. Come in, please." she said, standing aside to let Hotaru in. After a few minutes of Hotaru surveying the room, Mikan said, "So, Hotaru... What brings you here?"

"Dummy. We always have sleepovers on Thursdays." she replied blandly, "Now, show me where your room is. It's late and there's still school tomorrow."

Mikan showed her best friend her room, and watched as Hotaru laid out her sleeping bag and pressed a button where it had now become a double bed. Hotaru pulled back the covers, sat on the bed, and whipped out a book on aerodynamics. Mikan, curiosity getting the better of her, suddenly asked as she went to the bathroom to change into her old shirt and shorts, "Hotaru, what _is _you alice anyways?"

"Invention," she stated when Mikan returned.

"Ooh, I see." said Mikan, thinking about the time when both Hotaru and herself went fishing with Mikan's Ojii-san. Instead of using a fishing rod, Hotaru had used a robotic hippo. Hotaru was always inventing things and was interested in that kind of stuff. Mikan, on the other hand had always had this weird fascination with fire and water, and would draw them whenever she could. Mr Hyuuga was a very talented artist that loved to paint. He showed her how to draw in detail and little tips on drawing smoke from a fire that it almost seemed life-like.

The girls talked about little things, well, it was mostly Mikan talking, when Hotaru said something about being tired and wanting to go to sleep, it reminded Mikan of something she forgot, "Shit! I forgot my pills!" she cried. Hotaru looked at her with a perfectly arched brow.

"What pills?" she asked.

"My sleeping pills. 'Jii-chan got them for me about two or three months ago, and I've been taking them ever since. I've had insomnia since I was four or five. I can't believe I'd forgotten them." as she hit herself repeatedly on the head.

"Mmhm." said Hotaru, 'So that's why she wouldn't sleep at our sleepovers. I just assumed she was too excited to sleep.' "Mikan, it's ten. You have to get up in seven hours and I need my rest. Good night." With that, Hotaru rolled on her side and went to sleep.

'I wish I could sleep that easily,' thought Mikan as she staired at the ceiling and pet Keiko who had somehow gotten from the couch to her room which had the door closed. She was in for a long night.

Hotaru was awakened by Mikan. 'That dummy, waking my up like that. It's four thirty in the morning.' Casting a glance at her friend, she could see that Mikan was in pain. She was screaming and clutching her head, begging an invisible person to stop. Worried, Hotaru jumped out of her bed and shook her best friend awake. Mikan looked at her with a desperate face.

"Where is my knife?" demanded Mikan, before finding the desired blade and flicking it open. After screaming in pain and rage, Mikan shakily silt the skin of her forearm, drawing deep, unsteady breaths as the pain subsided in her head. Hotaru watched as the skin healed itself, leaving a tiny, white scar in it's place. "I-I'm really sorry you had to see that," started Mikan sadly, "It's just that when someone is physically hurt, I feel their pain mentally, in my head, while their pain is distrubuted throughout their entire body. I find that whenever someone is in pain, the closer they are to me, the painful my head becomes. In order to relieve it, I have to cause myself physical pain, which is pretty hard considering it heals itself. So, by cutting my arm, I am getting rid of my mental pain, and avoiding the risk of brain damage." said Mikan slowly. Hotaru surveyed her friend before pulling her into a hug which Mikan gratefully excepted. "Hotaru, it's nearly five o'clock. Time for my training. If you like, I'll wake you up when I get back at seven." She got up as Hotaru nodded, walked back over to her bed, and slid back under her covers. Mikan, pocket knife still in hand, glanced at Hotaru and Keiko, both sleeping, before she turned to go eat her breakfast.

When Mikan arrived to Bear-san's cabin, he was already waiting for her. They each bowed respectively, and began to battle expertly. Mikan was so caught up in the fight that she failed to sense someone watching them. Someone with black eyes was watching her moves very closely. When an hour had passed, Mikan bowed to Bear-san, thanking him before running back to take a shower.

After Mikan had stepped out of the shower and dressed in her freshly pressed uniform - she guessed it was the robots - rolled up her pant legs, and went to awake Hotaru, even though she was a bit early... but only by ten minutes or less. "Hotaru... get up. It's seven, and there's school, and -"

BAKAN! BAKAN! BAKAN! Mikan was cut off by Hotaru's ever handy Baka gun. Much to Hotaru's disappointment, Mikan dodged all three shots. "Dummy. I was having a good dream where I had all the crab brains I wanted... Free." muttered Hotaru darkly as she reluctantly got up to shower.

'That Hotaru...' thought Mikan as she made her bed. Mikan then went out to her mini kitchen to make Keiko some food. As she was heating the drink in the microwave, Mikan had a debate on whether or not to cook the steak, 'Hmm... I should really eat that steak. Maybe tonight. I'll hide some pieces around so Keiko can hunt for them... But then the dorm will stink... I suppose that the robots would clean it, but I don't want to take advantage of them... I know! I'll just put them on plates, that way the room won't stink, and the robots don't have to be used.' Satisfied with her answer, Mikan began to feed Keiko.

At quarter to eight, Mikan was walking with Keiko tucked under her arm, as Hotaru sped in front on her duck scooter. Mikan entered the Middle School building and followed Hotaru through the twists and turns of the hallways until they arrived at Class B's door. With a deep breath, Mikan pushed the door opened and walked in with Hotaru. Everyone was silent. Even though Mikan had her head down, she could feel the burn of everyones' stares.

"Why is she here?"

"Isn't she the crazy one?"

"Didn't she fight the bear yesterday?"

"Yeah, I think she did. And she's alive with no bruises! She must be pretty strong."

Mikan ignored the whispers and continued on to her seat. At last seated, she looked to her right to see that Ruka was there, but no Natsume. "Good morning Ruka-pyon!" she said cheerfully, and smiled even wider when she saw Ruka blushing as she slid into the empty seat in the middle.

"G-good morning, Mikan. Do you have any idea as to where Natsume might be?"

"I was just about to ask you the same quest-"

"Good morning my beautiful pupils! What a wonderfully sunny morning we have! Time for attendance!" said Narumi in a sing-song voice as he twirled in the classroom in pink and purple attire. When he twirled his last pirouette to his desk, he began to read off his attendance sheet, "Miyuki-chan,"

"Here,"

"Hoshi-kun,"

"Here,"

"Chika-chan

"Here,"

"Haya-chan,"

"Here,"

"Hotaru-chan,"

"Here."

"Kichi-chan,"

"Here,"

"Ruka-kun"

"Here,"

"Jiro-kun,"

"Here,"

"Mikan-chan"

"Hn."

"Yuu-kun,"

"Present,"

"Kitsuneme-kun,"

"Here,"

"Koko-kun,"

"Here,"

"Sumire-chan,"

"Here,"

"Mochu-kun,"

"Here,"

"Nonoko-chan,"

"Here,"

"Masakazu-kun"

"Here,"

"Anna-chan,"

"Here!"

"Wakkako-chan,"

"Here,"

"Natsume-kun," said Narumi as he scanned the class for the raven haired lad, as Natsume never answered when his name is called. No Natsume. He looked towards Ruka and asked, "Ruka-kun, have you seen Natsu-?" but was cut off by a cry of anguish. It was from Mikan. Narumi-sensei watched in distress as her breathing became shallow and uneven as her body began to writhe in pain, clutching her head. After one final scream, he watched as Mikan withdrew something silver from her back pocket and slide it down her arm, creating a thin line of red before disappearing. Every one was too caught up in watching Mikan's 'episode' that they never heard the tiny click of the door knob. As the door opened, every one grew silent to watch a beat-up person - who was undoubtedly Natsume - in a cat mask stumble and wobble to his seat. Narumi watched Ruka stand up. As Natsume slid past the teacher's desk, he said, "Caught by him after all, I see,"

"Shut up," replied Natsume coldly.

"Natsume!" cried Ruka. Mikan eyes all the burns, marks, bruises, and cuts on Natsume's throat, wrists, and knees.

"Natsume! Mikan's _still _in our class after what she did to me and... and... " whined Permy, her green eyes filled with fake tears. She was very startled and offended when her wonderful Natsume-sama kicked her desk and told her to shut it.

Mikan could hear the whispers going around the class, "Natsume has the punishment mask on. He's never in a good mood when he has to wear that," or, "I hear that is sends electronic waves to your brain, giving the wearer an endless headache,"

'Well, he's right about that,' thought Mikan as she thought about the dull ache in her head.

"Natsume..." she heard Ruka say.

"Don't worry about it, Ruka," said Natsume.

"Okay! Now that everyones' here, I have something to tell you!" chirped Narumi. Almost every one sweat-dropped at the sudden change in atmosphere, "Well, it's actually about the new student, Mikan-chan. Since she is new, she obviously doesn't know anything about this school, so I have decided to give her a partner!" He chuckled at the sight of half the male population, despite the previous events, raise their hands, "Ohohoho, my naïve students, I have already picked some one for her,"

'Please let it be Hotaru, or Iinchou, or even Ruka. At least he's not a pervert like Tsu-chan over there... At least he wasn't when he was eight...' thought Mikan as she cast a side glance at her seat mates. She swore she heard that mind reader chuckle, 'Stop reading my mind,' she mentally growled as she pictured a wall around her mind that obstructed people from reading her thoughts. Mikan inwardly smiled triumphantly as she heard Koko slowly cower away.

Narumi withdrew a sheet of folded paper from his pocket, and said, "Mikan-chan's partner will be... Natsume Hyuuga."

Natsume was shocked. Mikan, on the other hand, was thankful that it was someone that she knew, and not some weird stranger. Whispers began to break out among the students. They've seem to be doing that a lot lately. "Why did Narumi do that? They wouldn't make someone of his status do anything like that, would they?" Mikan rolled her eyes. 'Natsume isn't _king_, is he?' she wondered.

"Poor Mikan-chan. Stuck with Natsume." Mikan smiled at the statement. At least there was _someone _who didn't think him to be all high-and-mighty.

She could hear a quiet sobbing in the background. When she turned her head to the right, she could see Permy crying waterfalls and a girl with dark hair with one pigtail to the side comforting her saying, "It's okay, President. We, the Natsume-Ruka Fan Club will not let her get away with this!"

'Who would ever want to make a fan club devoted solely to Natsume and Ruka? Ruka I get, he's nice, and even handsome, too, I suppose... But Natsume's a perverted jerk.' thought Mikan with a tiny frown upon her face.

"Narumi-sensei?! Why?!" cried Permy.

"Ehehehe... Well, I must be off... Errands to run, Business to be attended to... Substitute, you're in charge! Bye!" said Narumi as he opened the door hastily. The substitute was on his knees, pleading for Narumi not to go.

"Please, _please_, I beg you! Don't leave me alone in a situation such as this!" But it was in vain. He was talking to no one.

Mikan's attention shifted to Natsume when he spoke, "Tch. Like I care. Who'd ever want to be partners with Polka Dots?" If you looked very carefully, you could see Mikan's eyebrow give a little twitch.

As the substitute ran out the door, Sumire approached Maikn saying, "Hey, Sakura, your star rank's Special, right?"

"I don't really know what it means, but yeah, I am. What's it to ya?"

"_Don't really know what it means," _she mocked, "Unbelievable. How can you, a Special, _not _know what a star rank is? A clueless girl like you should not be Natsume-sama's partner!"

"Idiot. I didn't choose him to be my partner.." stated Mikan dully.

Iinchou, sensing hostility between the two, quickly jumped in and said, "Let me explain. A 'Star Rank' is the evaluation system that Gakuen Alice uses to judge our attitudes, intelligence, and alices. There are four levels, well, technically five, starting from the bottom up, we have 'No Star' which is usually for little children, then there's 'Single', followed by 'Double', 'Triple'. Then, there is a higher level beyond that which is for the genius of geniuses, and extremely rare to find on a new student. You also get better dorms, better food, better treatment. Most people in elementary have one or two stars. Us middle schoolers usually have two stars, then the high schoolers have three stars."

Mikan nodded her head in understanding, before catching the glint of the three stars on Yuu's collar. "Iinchou! You have three stars on your collar like that." Iinchou, in response, laughed nervously.

"There's only three people in our class that have the rank of Triple. Iinchou's one of them because he's so responsible and makes very sophisticated illusions," pointed out a girl who Mikan knew to be Miyuki. "Imai is also a triple. She's smart, mature, and assertive. She also has a very original alice, too," she continued.

"Really? Nothing less from Hotaru, I suppose," said Mikan as she patted Keiko. "Then what's Natsume's rank?"

"Of course, he is a Special. He was the only Special in elementary, _and _middle school until _you _showed up," spat Permy.

"Ahaha! Really? Tsu-chan, a Special Star?" said Mikan incredulously.

"Don't 'Ahaha' me, missy. Natsume is a genius. When his alice is taken into account, a little wrong-doing can be brushed aside. But remember this," she said darkly, "I don't care what you did to Narumi to make him not expel you, but we won't ever except a murdering freak like you," Permy turned around and walked away five steps, before she turned her head, looking at Mikan over her shoulder, "But I guess I'll enjoy finding out who you killed,"

'Bitch.' thought Mikan as she glared at the retreating form of Permy with Koko and Mochu close behind. She was thinking of ways to blackmail Permy, when a fist hit her on the head.

"Dummy," said Hotaru as she withdrew her fist from Mikan's head, "Don't let her get to you. She's an idiot."

That made Mikan smile, "I'm sure that it will be fun living here with you guys," Mikan picked up Keiko from the floor, where she had been hissing at Permy, and faced her two friends, Iinchou and Hotaru.

"Ruka, let's go," said Natsume as he walked out the large wooden doors.

"Y-yeah," agreed Ruka before he too, stood up and walked off.

DING DONG "Oh crap! Jinno's class is next!" shouted a guy who was sitting on a desk. Almost all at once, the students quickly scrambled to their proper seats, which was not where they were previously sitting. Different teacher, different seating plan.

"Eh? Who's Jinno?" asked Mikan in confusion.

"Well, he used to be head supervisor and Math teacher to the elementary division," explained Iinchou, "But he moved up with us and got a promotion of head supervisor and Math teacher to the middle school division. I predict that he's going to get a promotion the year we all go into high school, too. He's really strict, and hates disorderly things. If I were you, I wouldn't want to get on his bad side," said Iinchou with a little shudder. Mikan nodded and trudged over to the only empty seat, which was two rows ahead of Permy. She set Keiko on her lap and opened the textbook on her desk, flicking throught the pages aimlessly until the door flew open.

A stern-looking man with a metal stick walked in the class, glaring at every one. His gaze lingered on Mikan, looking at her choice of uniform and multiple alice-limiters. "Absolutely NO alice usage or there will be dire consequences," barked Jinno, "I shall begin the lesson." Jinno picked up a Math textbook, turned towards the board, and began writing about solving linear equations. Mikan felt her eyes glaze over as she tuned in and out to Jinno-sensei's drone-like voice.

Mikan felt something move through the air towards her, and stiffened. 'Should I let it hit me, or use one of my alices to stop it? But then if I did, I would get in trouble... So, I'm better off be just letting it hit me.' she thought as the object hit her square in the back of the head. She heard Permy and her goons laugh quietly to themselves as the pencil case dropped to the ground. 'Idiots.' thought Mikan as she scratched her head.

Jinno, who had eyes everywhere, saw Mikan put up her hand. "You, new girl! Do you have a question?"

"Yes, actually, I do. I don't understand how you got from '15(X squared) equals 60' to 'X equals 2'" In reality, Mikan did know how he got that answer. It was simple. She just wanted Jinno to leave her alone.

"Well, it's quite simple, you see. All you have to do is divide both sides by 15, and take the square root of your answers and you get 'X equals 2'"

"Ahh, I see, I see. Thank you for clearing that up." said Mikan in mock gratefulness. Luckily, Jin-Jin didn't detect it in her voice, and continued to lecture about the equations. Once again, Mikan felt something fly towards her. She did nothing.

"COCKADOODLEDOO! THIS CLASS IS SO BORING!!" cried a chicken alarm clock, "I LOVE OCTOPUS DUMPLINGS! LET'S GO BUY SOME!"

Jinno abruptly stopped writing and slowly turned around in an annoyed manner to see that Permy, Wakkako were giggling rather ferociously while Mikan had her eyes closed, rubbing her temples. "New girl! Do you have something to say about the way I teach my class?"

"No sir."

"Very well, then. But the next time you disrupt my class, I will punish you as I see fit," he said, before returning to the chalkboard. Mikan silently sighed, and stiffened. For the third time in ten minutes, the brunette felt something soar towards her.

"Mikan-chan, above you! Watch out!" cried Iinchou, wanting to do something for the olive orbed girl.

Mikan lazily looked up to see a trash can hovering over her head. 'A trash can? Well, that's rather amateur,' she thought as the bin fell on top of her head. She heard the muffled laughter of her cruel classmates as pieces of litter tumbled off her shoulders, onto the floor. Slowly, she lifted the bin off her head and gently placed it on the ground. She wasn't angry, nor was she sad. She had endured worse. She would let it go. "Excuse me, Sensei? May I please be excused from your class? I would really like to go wash this garbage off, if you will allow it," asked Mikan politely as she brushed off pieces of orange peelings from Keiko's fur.

"I don't like your attitude, new girl. You may _not_ leave this class. You will stay here until the bell rings. How could someone like yourself ever be a Special Star? You're very ignorant about the rules, and disrespectful to your superiors. That is not the attitude of a Special Star. Hey! Where are you going?!" shoted Jinno at Mikan who was halfway to the door with Keiko tucked under her arm.

"Anywhere but here," she stated, before striding out the door. It was after a few hallways later that she remebered that she didn't know her way around here. "Damn it," she muttered. "I wonder..." she said before closing her eyes and concentrating on a path to get outside using her earth alice. Behind her closed eye lids, Mikan could see the hallways go right then left, then down two flights of stairs, then around some more corners. Her eyes flicked open. She knew the way out. Running down the hallways with incredible speed, Mikan was in broad daylight in less than two minutes.

--

**Review please**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Here's the fifth chapter! If you want to see Mikan's top, ... here it is,  
www(dot)threadless(dot)com/profile/356011/ChloroformPerfume13/photos/157413  
Here's the link for Mikan's lullaby,  
www(dot)geocities(dot)com(fwdslash)kblincoln(fwdslash)miabb(fwdslash)jpllmori(dot)html  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. I wish I did, though. Oh well. (N)

**Alice Academy  
5**

_When the stars no longer shine,  
When the sun falls from the sky,  
I will be forever yours,  
You will be forever mine.  
There's a special star that shines  
Every evening in your eyes.  
There's a special star that shines  
Each time I hear that lullaby._

_Behind her closed eye lids, Mikan could see the hallways go right then left, then down two flights of stairs, then around some more corners. Her eyes flicked open. She knew the way out. Running down the hallways with incredible speed, Mikan was in broad daylight in less than two minutes._

_--_

When Mikan arrived at her dorm door, she whipped out her key and hastily opened the door and walked to the bathroom where she first bathed Keiko, set her to curl up in a soft, thick towel, before stripping down herself and washing off all the food peelings and that garbage smell. After she stepped out and dried herself off, she dressed herself in her running shorts and a good T-shirt which was deep burgundy with the outline of a girl and a bicycle, holding a bird cage, releasing a phoenix. She had got it as a present for Christmas five months ago.

Mikan looked at the clock. It read 9:40. The brunette decided to go out on a little walk. "Keiko, since you're still wet, you have to stay here, okay? I wouldn't want my favorite little tiger getting sick," she said to the ball of wet fur and laughed as Keiko gave her a sleepy reply. Mikan jogged down the stairs, hallway, then out the door, wishing that she had brought her sketchbook with her.

In the staff room, Misaki-sensei and Narumi-sensei crowded around Jinno, telling him that he was too harsh, "Jinno, don't you think that you should have gone easy on the girl? I mean, she only just got here, and she's a Special, too," stated Misaki. From what he had just heard from Jinno, it sounded like he was over-reacting. "She didn't use any of her alices. She _could _have, but she didn't, because you said that using alices are prohibited,"

"Yes, _but _she just walked out of my class -," began Jinno.

"After you told her that she couldn't leave to wash the garbage out of her hair," interrupted Narumi.

"It doesn't matter. What we have here is a bad sprout, a rebel. They are very dangerous to the academy, just as people who are targeting alices outside of the academy are. Even rebels are okay, but the Nullification alice... Instead of having enemies on the outside, she is an enemy on the inside! She reminds me of a bad example. I don't like that alice," muttered Jinno darkly as his frog croaked menacingly on his shoulder.

Mikan strode around the campus, admiring the beautiful scenery. Any onlooker would have seen a cheery smile on the brunette's face, as if she was remembering a droll memory. Any onlooker would have been wrong. One reason why Mikan and Hotaru were friends was because they both loved to blackmail other people, and getting profit out of it. Right now, Mikan was smiling because she was thinking of various ways in which to blackmail a person. But Mikan wasn't in it this time for the money, oh no, she was doing it to make one person's life a living hell. Shouda Sumire's life, to be specific. "What should I do, what should I do? God, I hate that bitch so much. I hate her, I hate her, I hate her! What can I do that will scar her socially for life? Well, something obviously embarrassing. Argh! I've got nothing... As to be expected. I've only been in this school for a few days, so I suppose I could ask Hotaru to help me. She _always _has something on someone. Now, if I did manage to get a hold of something, what should I do with it? Well, I know I have to make her life hell... but how? Maybe I could... Nah, that's stupid," thought Mikan verbally. Wandering aimlessly around campus, she continued to plan out what she would do once she got her hands on any piece of incriminating evidence.

Getting lost in her sadistic thoughts, Mikan was startled by the sound of a robotic bird chirping, saying that it was time for lunch, "Gosh, I've been out here for nearly two and a half hours! Where did the time go?" questioned Mikan to herself as she made her way to the Middle school cafeteria, where she saw Hotaru and Iinchou sitting with some of her other classmates, chatting away happily. She also saw a rather large group swarm around a different table where Ruka and Natsume sat along with a selected few. "Idiots," she muttered as she made her way past the fangirls scream their names like lunatics into a line for food. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, she finally got her food, which was a good deal more than what she was used to eating. Her plate consisted of several pieces of ootoro, hot rice, and Kobe beef steak. 'Being a Special has it's advantages,' thought Mikan contently. She walked in the direction of Hotaru and the others, watching them as they shoveled food in their faces. Mikan abruptly stopped and turned on her heel, thinking, 'Oh. My. God. I have to go feed Keiko!' Still holding her tray of food, she practically ran out the building, up to her Special dorm. Carefully setting down the food tray, she extracted her key and unlocked the door shouting, "KEIKO! I'M SO SORRY! I HAVE TO FEED YOU!" as she picked up the tray, and jogged towards the island, set the tray down, and began to fill a bottle up with the solution and shoved it in the microwave. "Keiko?" called Mikan. No answer. Mikan strode to the place where she had put Keiko in a towel. There lay the fuzzy cub, sleeping soundly in a towel.

The beeping of the microwave sounded and the noise seemed to stir Keiko into consciousness, "I'm hungry," she yawned. The brunette scooped up the cub, and went to feed her on the couch.

Just as Keiko was halfway though her food, a knock resonated throughout her empty dorm. Sighing, Mikan almost called out, "Come in!," but realised that it would be stupid to do so, as the door was locked. Holding Keiko and the bottle, Mikan trudged over to the door only to realise that her hands were full. Rolling her eyes at her own stupidity, Mikan conjured up a hand-shaped rock on the handle which, by the weight, made the knob turn downwards. Then, with simply the power of her mind, she made wind push the door open. It was Narumi-sensei. 'Dear Lord...' "What?" she said in a irritated voice.

"Hehehe," he laughed gaily. "You're so cute when you're mad!"

"... What do you want?" she asked, giving him a murderous glare.

"T-to give y-you this, M-mikan-chan," he stuttered as he held his hand outward, trembling so badly that Mikan almost felt sorry that she gave him a dirty look. Almost, but not quite. Narumi placed something into her already full hand. Glancing briefly at the golden object as it shone in her palm, Mikan wondered what in hell it was.

"What is it?" she asked bluntly.

"It's you're special star brooch, silly! You put that on your uniform collar so than every one will know what your star ranking is. Oh! Before I forget, I have your monthly allowance of three hundred rabbits." he said excitedly as his hand dug through his pocket to retrieve three bills of what looked like money. Narumi went to give the money to Mikan, but she only glared.

"Idiot. Can't you see that my hands are full? Wait here," she ordered as she walked to her room. Since Keiko was all done feeding, Mikan gently set her down on her bed, and returned to Naru after putting the bottle in the sink to be washed. Narumi once again motioned to give her the three one hundred rabbit bills, when Mikan stopped him again, "What is this?"

"This are three bills of a hundred rabbits, which is the allowance for the month," he said slowly, as if explaining to a child of two years.

"Idiot. I can see that. I mean, what are rabbits?" she said with a roll of her eye as Narumi crammed the bills into what little hand space she had left.

"It's our currency we use on campus. Since we can't have any contact with the outside world, we don't use their money, so, we've made our own. One rabbit is a hundred yen, five rabbits is five hundred yen, etc., etc. You will get three hundred rabbits at the end of every month. What day is it today?" asked Narumi, completely going off topic.

"Friday..."

"And tomorrow?" he urged.

"Saturday..."

"Exactly! Every Saturday, Gakuen Alice holds alice-based classes. There are four types of classes, well, five, if you count the Dangerous Ability. There's the Latent Ability, which is the most common of alices, then the Somatic Ability, which is for alices like mine and Ruka-kun's, then the Technical Ability, like Hotaru's, and lastly, the Special Ability."

"Which one will I be in?" inquired Mikan.

"Well, Persona and I both had a good talk with the Higher-ups, and..."

"...And?"

"They've decided to put you in both the Special Ability and the Dangerous Ability. Tomorrow, you will go to the SA classroom, then two Saturdays later you go to DA classroom, then three later, and then two later," informed Narumi sadly.

"That's nice. Goodbye," said Mikan impassively as she slammed the door in his face, turning back into her living room and walking over to the island where her tray of food was, Mikan began to eat, eyeing the crumpled money and the star brooch. "God. It's nearly one, and I still have classes to attend. Joy unbounded," she said as she placed her tray and dishes on the counter. After placing the star on her night table, she then went to collect Keiko who was napping on her bed. "Keiko, let's go, we have classes that need to be attended." she said, scooping up the little cub in her arms. Making sure that she had her knife and key, Mikan strode out the door to Class B's room. As she was walking along the hallway, she found Ruka standing alone leaning against the wall. "Ruka-pyon, what are you doing here? And all alone, too! So rare!" exclaimed Mikan.

"You are... probably being targeted," said Ruka slowly. He continued when he saw that all he was going to get from Mikan was a confused look, "And I... don't know why, either. But that incident with Jinno shouldn't have gotten you in trouble. You can tell that he doesn't like you, yet you did nothing wrong. All the teachers, including Narumi... it's better if you don't trust them too much." 'Just like Natsume... back then. They don't care about his potential, or if he's a genius. Being a Special was unheard of in the Elementary Division' "I just wanted to let you know," he said as he walked away, his footsteps echoing off the stone walls. Mikan just watched his retreating form, confused as hell.

The afternoon passed by as a blur. What Ruka had said continuously played in her head like a broken record. They had Serina-sensei for English, then Misaki-sensei for biology, but Mikan hardly remembered them. But what Mikan _did _remember was when she was coming back to her dorms, she passed Jinno. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at the memory that happened merely five hours ago. "Fucking tool. I want to fucking stab that bastard, and hear him scream in pain as he dies slowly and painfully... too bad that with my damn alice, I'd be screaming along with him.." she muttered darkly as she recalled the events that had taken place after school.

_As Mikan was peacefully down the hallway, admiring the yellow painted brick walls, when suddenly, an irate voice scared her to her wits end. It was Jinno. "New girl, you seem to be one for disorderly an inappropriate things, hmm? Not even wearing your uniform! Well, just because you have the title of a Special does _not _mean that you go flaunting around, thinking that you're better than every one else and giving teachers dirty looks, because you're _not_! Is there any hope in fixing your rebellious attitude?" He sneered, looking down at Mikan past his nose as if she were scum._

_For a brief second, Mikan was silent. Slowly, she bowed and said, "I sincerely apologize, Sensei. I will take care to not repeat the error of my ways." Upon hearing this, Jinno smirked, and drew out his metal pointer._

_"That's right, new student. You will take care to not repeat the error of your ways, and I intend to insure that you do. Need I remind you that I have the alice of lightning?" he asked, watching as Mikan stayed silent, an indifferent expression on her face. He pointed the stick at her and activated his alice, which, by the sheer force of the lightning, threw her to the ground. Still, she felt nothing. She said nothing. She did nothing hoist herself up from the floor. "Didn't I tell you before that my alice is Lightning?" he demanded. Mikan tried to think when he had said his alice. He didn't. Still, she remained silent. Nonetheless, Jinno continued to rant, ignoring the gathering crowd of students. "My alice is extremely handy when it comes to punishing idiots like you."_

_Mikan had to retrain herself from saying, "No, actually, it doesn't. I have both the Nullification and Healing alice. It won't effect me at all."_

_"Did you know that there once was a person who had the Nullifying alice like you? Just like you, disobeying the rules like the idiot he was. In the end, though... he just couldn't die peacefully..." Immediately, Ruka's words replayed in her head. _

_'Am I really being targeted?' she thought._

_"What is _that _look supposed to mean?" barked Jinno, "You must want to use one of your alices on me don't you? Go on, attack me, _I dare you_," he whispered. Mikan did nothing, her face void of emotion._

_'You may call me an idiot, but I am no fool,' thought Mikan._

_"Interesting," said Jinno. Once again, he raised his hand up to electrocute her, and watched as she just stared at him, not even flinching at the sudden movement, or at what the end result would be. Just as the lightning was about to hit Mikan, it rebounded off something and headed towards Jinno, causing him to be the one electrocuted. The last thing he saw was Mikan holding a tiny mirror before everything around him went black._

_"Idiot teacher," sounded a voice as it broke away from the crowd and looked at Jinno-sensei's slack body. Hotaru grabbed her invention, the Reflecting Mirror, out of Mikan's hands and stood there, looking at Mikan._

_"I think we should call another teacher, don't you?" said one person._

_"..." said Mikan and Hotaru. Then, without warning, Hotaru grabbed Mikan's hand and bolted down the hallway. When they were a good distance away, Hotaru slowed their pace to a fast walk, "Mikan. How did you get targeted by such a sketchy man? What did you do to provoke him? This is the first time I've ever seen Jinno use that method to punish someone."_

_"Hotaru, I didn't do anything. It appears that he had a strong dislike for the person that I supposedly resemble, and he is taking it out on me. When he wakes up, I'm sure that we're going to be punished." stated Mikan calmly. "Hotaru... Thanks for saving me,"_

_"What are you thanking me for? I didn't do anything much, I just gave you that mirror."_

_Half an hour later, an announcement came on the speakers, "Attention everyone, your attention, please. I would like to announce that _Imai Hotaru _and _Sakura Mikan _will be for _one week_ demoted in ranking and serve punishments. The rankings are as follows: Triple to Single, and Special to Double. That is all."_

"Damn that Jinno to hell! Oh! I have to make that steak!" thought Mikan aloud as she ceased her flashback on the sofa at nine o'clock at night.

After forty-some minutes of hustle-and-bustling, Mikan could be seen enjoying her steak as Keiko went around searching for her own tiny pieces. Stuffing the last piece in her mouth, Mikan sighed in content, "That... was good." Mikan got up and put her dishes in the sink. Just then, a flash of lightning illuminated, preceding a loud crash of thunder, shaking the dormitoires as if the storm was directly above the building. "KYA!" screamed Mikan in fear. Tears forming in her eyes, she grabbed Keiko and dived under the covers of her large bed for solace. Humming the words her late mother used to sing to her every time there was a thunderstorm, rain pelted down furiously at her windows.

_The owl said,  
"I am the guardian of the forest.  
Fearsome wolves and foxes of the like won't be allowed to come near,  
So sleep,  
Sleep."  
Gorosuke,  
"Hoot,  
Hoot,"  
Gorosuke,  
"Hoot,"_

Suddenly, Mikan felt depressed, "Okaa-san," she whispered sadly, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault." Tears slid continuously as Mikan shivered in fear of the thunder. It was going to be another long night.

Halfway through the night, a loud crash emitted from outside, causing Mikan to jolt from her daze at looking at the ceiling. She heard the fain echoing cries of little children through the wind. She imagined them, holding tightly onto their plush bears, crying, wanting their mothers. It was disheartening to know that they were cut off from seeing their families. She hoped that they would be okay.

'I guess some people didn't come here on their own like me,' thought Mikan as she recalled her former classmates' whispers about Hotaru's family avoiding the government. Suddenly, Natsume's words popped up out of nowhere, "_You're going to regret ever coming to this school by your own will_"

'I don't regret it, and I _won't _regret it!' After thinking that, Mikan rolled on her side and lay awake for the remainder of the night until five A.M. rolled around once again, where she did her usual: Get up, tell the cub to go back to sleep, have breakfast, put her hair up in a ponytail, get her running gear on, and walk outside, where she was met immediately by a torrential downpour. She didn't mind. She loved the rain. It was soothing in it's own way, not like the thunder, though. She hated thunder. It reminded her so much of her father, who's name, coincidentally, was Raidon, meaning 'Thunder'. He was appropriately named, being someone who was loud, angry, and cruel. Yes, that name suited him well.

Deciding to omit Bear-san for the day, Mikan ran aimlessly around the campus for an hour, until she spotted the cherry blossom tree. She would skip training today. Right now, she was too dejected to fight. Tomorrow she would make up for it. Curled up at the base of the tree, Mikan wept silently. "_Why are you crying_?" a voice whispered. Mikan stopped shaking and look around. No one was there. Mikan, too distracted by her emotions, failed to notice a raven haired lad perched on a tree branch not too far behind her. He watched her with his cold blood-red eyes in slight confusion as to who she was conversing with. All he could hear were her answers.

"Wh-who said that?" asked Mikan unsteadily.

"_Me, Sakura Blossom, the tree at who's base you weep upon. Tell me, what is wrong, what is the reason you cry?_"

"Because I'm a bad person that doesn't deserve to live. My 'Jii-chan just died from Tuberculosis when I could have healed him, I killed a man for assaulting me when I could have merely rendered him unconscious and turned him in to the police, I killed my mother and so many others from the fire I created when I should of had my emotions in check, and I murdered my father when I could have also go to jail. But he deserved to die. I am nothing but a murdering, no good thief that shouldn't be alive."

"_Why do you think that way?"_

"Because that was what I had been told for the first eight years of my life. That is what I had been taught from my father."

"_Why did he say those things?_"

"Because he hated me. He called me many names, usually 'little girl', or 'thief' I don't know why he would call me a thief, though, I have never stolen anything from anybody in my life. Just as he hated me, I hated him. Did you know that they weren't even my real parents? A few days before my 'Jii-chan dies, he said, 'Mikan, my wonderful granddaughter, my days are numbered. But, as death creeps upon me, I have something dire to tell you. The ones who you thought were your parents, we not. Your birth mother, my daughter, Yuka, had you when she was only fourteen, and couldn't raise you. Instead, she gave you to her sister, who was already married and desperately wanted to have children.' That's what he said. I was adopted by my aunt and uncle."

"_What would he do to you?_"

"He would continuously beat me when Yumiko wasn't around, which was all the time. She was a surgeon, operating on patiens everyday. Raidon, being a writer, would always be at home. You know, he always wasn't like that, beating me all the time. But one day, when I was five, I had this dream where I found these colored stones just lying on the ground and picked it up. Then, after that, he started getting depressed that his 'power' was stolen, and Yumiko got fired from being a surgeon and got a replacement job as a cashier in a grocery store. The depression quickly evaporated and turned into anger. What did he release his anger on? Me. He would beat me, and would rape me every second week since that dream. He would starve me, and stab me. But, for some reason, I never got hurt. The last time I can remember I had a broken bone was when I was three. I was outside playing with my friend, Natsume, and I fell and broke my arm. That's another thing, too. Natsume, and Ruka. They should hate me. They probably do, that would explain why they never wrote to me. They should want to kill me after what I did to them. Natsume especially."

Natsume, only just getting there, frowned. He did not hate her. In fact, he was glad to see her, after being separated for seven years. Still, to this day, he remembered the time when both he and Ruka had to leave for Gakuen Alice. It was raining, like it was now at six thirty in the morning.

_"T-tsu-chan, Ruka-pyon, why are you going?" sniffled an eight year old girl with shoulder-length brown hair. _

_"Don't worry, Polka Dots, we have to leave because... um... because the men in black suits say we have to," stated a boy her age with crimson eyes as both he and Ruka embraced their friend._

_"Mi-chan, we'll write to you everyday! I promise!" chirruped a boy with blond hair and eyes as blue as the sea._

_"Hyuuga-sama, Nogi-sama, it's time." boomed a voice. It belonged to a man clad in black. He was holding an umbrella over the trio, gesturing to the sleek limousine in front of them._

_"Remember to write to me! I'll be at my 'Jii-chan's, 'kay? I'll miss you guys lots!" said Mikan, trying her best not to cry._

_Natsume tossed an object into Mikan's little hand. "W-what is this?" she asked, gazing down at the plastic necklace with a little white cat pendant, the kind that you get from crank machines that cost a quarter. _

_"Something me and Ru-chan bought for you to remember us by,"_

_"Aww, thanks you guys!"_

_The trio hugged for the last time, then Natsume and Ruka disappeared behind a tinted window, leaving Mikan watching as the car zoomed off in the distance._

Those bastards in the academy wouldn't send his letters. He found that out after he followed Narumi secretly and watched as he place the letters in a drawer, never to see the light of day again. They both wrote one every day to her. After a few months of getting nothing, he came to the conclusion that Mikan must be angry at them, and gave up hope. Natsume was snapped out of his thoughts by the breakfast bell. He had been here longer than he thought. After Mikan was a good distance away, Natsume landed soundlessly on the dewy grass, and went to eat breakfast.

Everywhere Mikan went, she could hear the endless whispers about her. "I hear the the new girl from the Middle School Division is a Special _and _she's partnered with Natsume. She must have pretty powerful alices in order to be partnered with _him_." Mikan rolled her eyes and continued walking, "What's that new girl's name again? Momo or Ringo... I donno. Something to do with fruit." Entering the cafeteria, Mikan realised that there was no reason for her to be here, as she had already eaten.

'I suppose that I could sit down with Hotaru and Iinchou, and watch them eat,' she decided. Walking over to where Hotaru sat, Mikan pulled up a chair and sat beside a girl with sugary-pink hair and blue eyes, also know as Anna, who was talking to her dancing hash-browns, until she noticed a presence beside her.

"Hello! I'm Umenomiya Anna, but you can call me Anna." she said cheerily. Mikan immediately took a liking to this girl. She seemed to be very nice.

"Hey, Anna-chan, I'm Sakura Mikan. Call me Mikan. " she replied, equally as cheery.

"Mikan-chan, why aren't you eating you breakfast? Did you know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? _Gasp!_ Are you skipping breakfast because you think that you're fat? You're so skinny! Like a toothpick! Did you know that by not eating breakfast actually _slows _your metabolism so that you will store fat? Here! Have some of my breakfast!" she cried, pushing her half eaten breakfast towards the brunette.

Mikan just pushed it right back at her, "No, I already ate when I woke up this morning, but thanks anyways." she said, giving Anna a toothy smile. After seeing the pink-haired girl's mood darken considerably, she continued, "Ehehe, but just a little more isn't going to hurt.." and slowly pulled the plate back to her, reached over to get a fork, and began to eat it.

"I'm glad," said Anna, as Mikan's eyes wandered, until she caught sight of Natsume.

'I wonder what alice class he's in...?' thought Mikan.

"Dangerous Ability," answered Koko, who Mikan was unaware of. Looking up to see his grinning face, Mikan realised that he read her mind.

'Thanks, but I would appreciate it very much if you would _not _read my mind, or if you do, keep it to yourself.' she thought as she used her nullifying alice to stop him from reading her mind. Suddenly, the bells rang, signifying the end of breakfast and that class has begun. Walking out a general direction of where she assumed the Specials' class would be, Mikan thought about the Dangerous Ability class. 'Well, I know that I'm in it, and Natsume's in it. I wonder how he got in there? Well, I suppose it wouldn't matter what alice class he had originally been in, if they consider him dangerous and all, then of course he would be in that class. I wonder if they consider me dangerous as well... Idiot. Of course they do, why else would I be in there. Have they seen me train? I bet they did without me knowing, with me being all engrossed with it and all. That could really wind me up in trouble someday. That Dangerous Abilities seems like... an occult of sorts. To think that I'll be joining it in two weeks is creepy. It's so shrouded in mystery. Natsume is full of mystery too...' As Mikan was almost around the corner, she failed to sense an oncoming person's presence and nearly bumped into them, only hearing their rough panting the last second. "N-natsume? Speak of the dev-mmph" she started, but was smothered by Natsume's arm.

"Say anything, and I'll kill you," he threatened as he backed them behind a garbage bin that was conveniently beside them. Mikan just rolled her eyes, but stayed perfectly still and quiet as a mouse. Sensing footsteps that belonged to a man, Mikan stiffened and hoped against hope that he wouldn't come near them.

"Natsume-kun, where are you my little Kuro Neko? Oh, what's this? You don't want to come out and play? No matter, I'll find you," called a dark voice. Finally, after what seemed like forever to Mikan, as she was taking on a rather violent shade of red, the figure left. Releasing his arm from Mikan's mouth, Natsume stood facing her as she gasped for air, her face still a little red from lack of oxygen.

"Natsume you _gasp_ idiot! Why _gasp _did you _gasp _do that?! Who was _gasp _that?" No answer. Natsume just turned his head to the side, visibly ignoring her, "NATSUME! Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you and stop trying to be so indifferent!" she yelled, catching the attention of three other middle schoolers, two boys and a girl. Mikan didn't recognize them, and decided that they must be in Class A.

"Oh? Isn't that Natsume? And cutting class with a woman I see. Isn't _that _something," joked a boy with blue seaweed-like hair. Mikan thought he looked strangely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Idiot," said the second boy. He had short, spiky orange hair, "Hey, isn't that Sakura Mikan? The Special star? Hey! Don't ignore us!" he cried.

Both Mikan and Natsume were getting fed up. Natsume, having a short temper, decided to leave and cool off, before he did something he might soon regret. "Oi, wait a sec... murderer." Natsume stopped dead and Mikan stiffened. Slowly, they both turned to face Seaweed-hair.

"What. Did. You. Say?" asked Mikan, sounding as if she was about to kill one of them on the spot. Igniting a flame on Seaweed's sleeve, Mikan watched as the other two tried desperately to put out the flame, all the while yelling, "Quick! Someone get the Mask!" They obviously thought it was Natsume. "Listen, cocky-ass, 'Dangerous' ain't cool with us. Everyone says that your such a genius and shit 'cause you're a Special. Well, you're special all right, but only because that mask of yours suits you so well! Ahahaha!"

"By the time they get here with that stupid peice of plastic, you'll be burt to a crisp," stated Mikan, thinking that it was the limiting cat mask that Natsume wore yesterday, and not the person that was looking for him. Ignoring the scene in front of him, Natsume turned to walk away, but Seaweeds voice stopped him.

"Oi, jerk, don't you care about your woman?" he said, grabbing onto Mikan's ponytail rather roughly. Both looked at him with quirked eyebrows and indifferent faces. Smirking, Natsume just walked away, leaving the four middle schoolers to be confused. "H-hey! Come back here, you dope! _Sigh_. What do you propose we do with this one?"

"Ooh! I know! Let's have fun with her!" shouted Pumpkin Head gleefully. Mikan just rolled her eyes.

"Aren't you a little young to be sexually harassing someone that's older than you?" said Mikan in a bored tone, pulling her long hair from the hold of Seaweed's hand.

The girl that was with them, who had been so quiet these past five minutes, sweatdropped and said, "Jeez, only by what? Two years?"

Deciding that she needed to be rid of these idiots, Mikan turned to the nearest person - who, unfortunately, was Pumpkin Head - and began to beat the living shit out of him, only slightly aware of the ache in her head. Causing a row, the group - excluding Mikan - were screaming so loud it caused bird to fly from the trees. After a few seconds, Mikan felt someone land behind her. Stopping her activities, she turned around to see a Sex God in a hat.

--

**Review please**

**A/N:**Phwoar! First author's note at the end of a chapter. Some of you may be asking yourselves, "What the hell is wrong with Mikan? She's happy one minute, sad the next, or angry, or bubbly... so many moods," Well,_ if _you are asking yourself that, then I'm glad., because I want to portray Mikan as someone with a disorder Sypmtoms include:  
Insomnia  
Depression  
Violent mood swings  
Restlessness  
Extremely cranky  
Thoughts shift from one to another.

( I know what it called, do you?) If you tell me the correct answer, I'll (possibly) update sooner (but I'm going to the States this Saturday...Kya!)! Who is the Sex God in a hat? :O


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Thanks to my lurvelyyyyyyyyy reviewers :3 _Sigh_. I must say, I've been a vair vair negligent author, haven't I? Well, you can blame exams for that.... and the fact that I'm v. v. lazy. : P  
As to Mikan's disorder, I'll reveal what it is in a later chapter. :O  
You were riiiiiiiiggggghhhht! It _is _Tsubasa that is a Sex God in a hat! Yay! Brownies for everyone!  
Man! It's so short!!!!!!! It's cause I have no time, but I wanted to give you something. : )  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice.

**Alice Academy  
6**

_Photograph  
I don't want your photograph  
I don't need your photograph  
All I've got is a photograph  
And it's not enough_

_Deciding that she needed to be rid of these idiots, Mikan turned to the nearest person - who, unfortunately, was Pumpkin Head - and began to beat the living shit out of him, only slightly aware of the ache in her head. Causing a row, the group - excluding Mikan - were screaming so loud it caused bird to fly from the trees. After a few seconds, Mikan felt someone land behind her. Stopping her activities, she turned around to see a Sex God in a hat._

--

Silent and graceful, the Sex God glided over to her, and stood there, watching in amusement as Pumpkin Head could no longer move.

"Hey! I can't move!" the Pumpkin Head cried, stating the obvious. Mikan backed a couple of feet away from him. This could get messy. She watched as the Sex God kicked Pumpkin to the ground and 'Tsk-ed' at the group, his indigo eyes shrouded in disappointment.

"T-t-tsubasa," cried Seaweed and the girl in unison. Clearly, they were frightened of this handsome fellow.

"Too late, you guys are already in my shadow. I heard what you were planning to do to this little chibi. Even though she can obviously take care of herself, it's still disgraceful. She's older than you, too. I would havethought that you guys had more moral code than that. I guess I thought wrong." he said, shaking his head in a paternal manner. While he gave them a tiny speech about the morals and values of Japan, Mikan took this time to sneak little glances at him every so often.

'His eyes are such a vibrant color of dark indigo, I feel like I could melt in them! Wait. What the fuck am I thinking? I just met him for God's sake. What's with the star on his cheek? Could it be a tattoo? Hmm... Perhaps I should ask him... But maybe he won't answer me... Then I won't be able to know. I could always ask Hotaru. She might know. What was his name again? Oh, right, Tsubasa. That's a peculiar name to name a child. Wings. But then again, so is Oranges. What in hell were my parents thinking when they named me? I don't think that they really were thinking. Maybe they decided to name me after the first thing they saw, which was a crate of oranges. What would a crate of oranges be doing in a hospital room? Maybe a patient was low on Vitamin C? But, they have vitamins and drugs to take for that. Perhaps the person wanted a more natural way of getting Vitamin -' Mikan's rambling thought process was halted when she caught sight of a hand waving in front of her, and soon realized where she was. She was supposed to be going to the Special Ability class. Her eyes widened.

"The Special Ability class! Shit! I'm late!" she cried. Turning to leave, Mikan was stopped by an unseen force. Every inch of her body was seemingly paralyzed. "Let me go," she ordered. When she lifted her hand successfully, she spun around to see a grinning Sex God.

"Don't worry, I've got a secret weapon," he said confidently.

'Secret weapon? What. The. Hell?' thought a perplexed Mikan.

"High School trash, that's what you are." said Seaweed boldly. Tsubasa merely laughed.

"If I'm trash, then, what do you... think you are?" he asked innocently. Dropping the character, his eyes flashed dangerously before moving his leg and a fluid sweeping motion, knocking the trio to the ground. Grinning like a toddler on Christmas day, he turned to Mikanand said, "That my secret weapon: Shadow fun! Tehehehehe. Watch this," he said, pulling a permanent black marker from his back pocket. Still, the trio was lying on the ground as he began to write, 'One hour of dancing.'

"What'd you do that for?" asked Mikan, who was staring at the three as they unwillingly got up and began to dance like lunatics.

"Oh, that! Well, my alice is Shadow Manipulation. If I write something down in the shadows, then whatever is caught in them has to do what I wrote." he explained. Mikan nodded. "You said you were in the SA class? Wow! I'm in that class too! I'll walk you there. Wait. I just realized something! You're the new girl, the Special who's Natsume's partner! Nice to meet ya. Name's Andou Tsubasa, 16 and three quarters. High School Division, Class B."

"Sakura Mikan, I'm 15. In the Middle School Class B. Nice to meet you too, Se- I mean, Andou-kun. Ehehehe." said Mikan, bowing politely. 'That was close! I nearly called him "Sex God"! Good thing I stopped myself,' she thought.

When she heard laughter, she snapped her head up, looking at the older student. "You nearly called me 'Senpai' didn't you?" he asked in a light, joking tone. Laughing slightly, she nodded. "Aw, no need for such formalities, I'm only a year and then some older than you. Just call me Tsubasa, okay?"

"Gotcha... Tsubasa-kun..." said Mikan shyly.

"We're here, Chibi," said Tsubasa as he halted in front of a pair of great wooden doors, much like the ones of Class B's. 'How in hell did we get here so fast? And what's with the calling me "Chibi"?' pondered Mikan, who hadn't even realized they were walking. All of a sudden, she heard this rattling noise. Turning her head in the direction of the small racket only to see Tsubasa fiddling with the door handle, "You just... gotta... rattle it... then..." said Tsubasa in a strained voice, "Ah, then, it opens. Don't be weirded out about our class, okay? We're all a bunch of good guys. It's just that every one thinks that we're weird because we're the smallest group with the misfit alices. That also comes with advantages. For one thing, since this class is so small, we've bonded and became somewhat like a family. You first," he said, opening the door wide to let her in first. Once they were both in and the door closed, they heard a deafening screech.

"TSUBASA! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Feeling a rather weighted object being thrown at them - or more specifically, at Tsubasa, Mikan shoved Tsubasa to her right while she ducked; her eyes shut tight and heard the projectile evidently leave a dent in the door directly behind her. Opening one of her squeezed-shut eyes, her vision was slightly blurred. All she could make out was the color of raspberry. Upon opening the second eye and blinking multiple times, the blob soon focused to reveal a girl who was evidently a year or two older than she, as she sported the High School's uniform. With her shoulder length, pink-colored hair swishing every-which-way in anger, she continued to beat-down on the poor, indigo-eyed fellow. "Tsubasa, you're late. Didn't I tell you that - eh? Who's thi-" she paused, eyes widening in realization."Tsubasa! Why didn't you tell me that you were bringing her with you? Hi! I'm Harada Misaki, but call me Misaki, 'kay?"

"Hello, Misaki-chan. I'm -"

"Sakura Mikan, I know! Welcome to the Special Class!" shouted Misaki excitedly. She then turned around, and yelled, "EVERYONE! SHE'S HERE!" As soon as the words left her mouth, people suddenly gathered around the young brunette giving words of welcome. Plastering a smile to her face, Mikan greeted everyone around her. "Special, welcome your new buddy here." continued Misaki.

Someone nudged her in the rib. Turning her head, Mikan saw Tsubasa leaning closer to whisper something to her, "See what I mean? It's just like a family here. Every Special thinks that one another is numero uno."

"Sure everyone calls us weird, but that means that we can say and do whatever we want! The Specials' motto is 'Freedom' so don't you forget about that, okay?" said Misaki. Mikan nodded with a large smile on her face that stretched from ear to ear. 'Wow. My very own welcoming party! Yay!' thought Mikan gleefully. A guy with sandy-blond hair and glasses approached her, his High School uniform put on sloppily, holding a platter of hors d'oeuvre.

"Hey there, newbie. I'm Megane. Us Specials exist to break the rules, so remember to keep the cool and innocent exterior for ranks or pranks, otherwise the stupid teachers might actually havea bright idea and get a clue to put you in detention. In other words, just live your life to the fullest!" he exclaimed happily. Offering Mikan a little fancy shrimp-thing underneath tiny black balls covered in what seemed jelly - Mikan knew this to be caviar, as Hotaru would eat it by the ton for lunch everyday - placed neatly on a square cracker. Taking numerous napkins and unfolding them, the brunette gingerly placed ten of these delicate snacks in the center of each square and refolded them, putting them carefully in her pocket, making sure not to let them be squished. 'Fufufu, I can sell these to Hotaru. I'm sure that she'll want them.' thought Mikan, wanting to make a profit. 'Hmm. I've only been here for what…? Well, I came here on Wednesday night, well more like Thursday morning, and today is Saturday… so technically I've been here for three days and then some. Wow, it's already Saturday. I wonder what there is to do on weekends. I'll ask Iinchou or Hotaru.' "Speaking of teachers," started Mikan. People looked at her rather oddly.

"Ahaha, you're so funny, Mikan-chan. But we weren't talking about teachers." laughed Misaki.

"Well, now that you bring up the subject of teachers, where _is_the teacher here? I don't see him anywhere." stated a perplexed Mikan.

"Ha! Nodacchi's off some where's off in the past… or future. He's never here."

"Oh, I see, I see." said Mikan as she nodded her head like a wise person who nods their head a lot. 'I wonder when we start training. Maybe we don't do training here. I don't see any teacher. Oh, right. Misaki-chan said that he's not here. Silly Mikan, you gotta remember these kinds of things. Perhaps at the Dangerous thing we train our abilities. Maybe, I don't know. I've never been in it. I should ask Natsume, he's in that, too.' she thought. "So, what is there to do around here?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Well, it's a place where we can all chill and be ourselves." answered Tsubasa as several people applauded his good response.

"Huh. Sounds fun," she muttered. Walking off to the unknown, Mikan went about her business, only half listening to the words that came out the others' mouth, and replying with one-syllable answers. About twenty-some minutes later, Tsubasa came up to her, pulling her inconspicuously towards the doors.

"It's pretty obvious that you're not really liking it so far, and it's only five after nine! Did yah wanna leave with me? I can show you around the campus! It'd be like the official tour! Whadd'ya say?" exclaimed Tsubasa, as he looked at Mikan with his indigo puppy-dog eyes.

'So cute.' thought Mikan dreamily, 'I think I should, ehehehe. But what if he tries something funny?' she asked herself, suspicious now of the Sex God, 'Well, I'll just have to be on my guard, and not get distracted!' she told herself. With an indifferent voice she said, "Sure, why not." as she shrugged her shoulders, following her senior through the door and out the hallways.

After walking through the exit, the two made their way towards the Elementary building. Mikan looked up to the nearly cloudless sky, wishing that sooner rather than later it would simply rain. "And we have here the Elementary school buildings, along with the individual laboratories of the Technology Department. And behind that, we have the infamous Northern Woods." uttered Tsubasa. Leading them behind the cluster of buildings, Mikan sensed a familiar presence not that far ahead. Looking in the direction, she found it to be Hotaru, Yuu, and a girl with glossy, straight navy hair. The trio was chatting animatedly. Waving to them rather vigorously, Mikan ran up to the group, with Tsubasa following suit.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" asked a chipper Mikan. Turning to the unknown girl, she displayed a confused look, thinking hard, trying to recall what her name was. "Urgh! I'm really sorry, what was your name again? I forget," added a sheepish Mikan, cheeks tinged a light hue of pink.

The navy-haired lass simply laughed lightly, her large dark blue eyes shone with humor. "It's okay. I'm Ogasawara Nonoko; please call me Nonoko, though. It's nice to meet you, Sakura-san," she said, giving a toothy smile.

"Hi Nonoko-chan! But you _have_to call me Mikan, okay?"

"Mi-mikan-chan, why is Andou-kun w-with you?" interjected Yuu quietly.

"Well… we're both in the Special Ability class, and he offered to give me a tour of the campus!" replied Mikan brightly before muttering to herself, "Even though that's the job of my partner. Stupid introverted Natsume."

"Hey!" exclaimed Tsubasa. For a second, she thought that he had heard her. Instead, a smile was plastered on his handsome features. "I know what we can do! Since we're already near the Northern Woods, why don't we stop by this quaint little table that I know of in a clearing not too far from here?"

Everyone agreed, nodding their heads in unison. Grinning widely, he broke through the small group and began to lead the way to the Northern Woods. After a very brisk walk, the group of fivearrived at a circular table with five chairs placed evenly around the circumference. Taking up the seats, Iinchou, Nonoko, and Tsubasa chatted, making small conversation while Hotaru and Mikan just sat and listened, thinking about what her next robot she built would look like, or why Narumi was such a gay-ass. Then, just as Mikan had concluded that simply must be hereditary, she felt very faint vibrations coming from the north-west.

"Oh! Hotaru, that reminds me, I got you something that you love so much, it's right up there with crab roe, too," she said, only just remembering the bulge in her pockets from the napkins. Carefully, she took them out and pushed them over to Hotaru, "It's caviar! If you want it, you're gonna have to pay me fifty rabbits for all of them." Mikan smirked as Hotarumade a face. She could tell that she really wanted them, but was reluctant to give up her money so easily. In the end, though, her gluttony won over her greed, and Mikan was fifty rabbits richer. She was in the middle of savoring this victory, when –

"Ah! There you are, Bear-san!" cried Tsubasa gleefully as the plush toy came out of the bushes holding a platter of pastries, biscuits, or cookies, along with cups and saucers with a pot of tea.

Mikan watched the scene unfold before her eyes; Hotaru was wearing an army helmet and equipped with a shotgun that was grasped steadily in her hands. Yuu and Nonoko, on the other hand, were clinging to each other; crying and cowering like their lives depended on it. Suddenly, Yuu began to yell, "OH MY GOD! THE BEAR'S SERVING TEA! WHY IS HE SERVING TEA? WA-A-AH! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Mikan rolled her eyes and chuckled at Yuu's rash behavior, and watched as Nonoko made a dash for it.

'Well, I suppose I can't blame them about being afraid of a sadistic plush toy with inhuman strength. If I wasn't trained in martial arts, hell, I'd be scared of the thing too.' thought Mikan as Tsubasa laughed.

"Dude, relax. I'm a really good friend of Bear-san's creator, so he won't hurt me, and as long as I'm with you guys, he won't hurt you either. You hear that, Bear-san? Don't try to punch them, kick them, or generally harm them in any way while I'm here, 'kay?" he said as he lifted the tray of assorted goods on the table top.

Mikan, suddenly getting a surge of boldness – or one could properly call it a surge of randomness – blurted out a question that had been on her mind for quite some time now, "Hey Tsubasa-kun, what do you have that star-thing on your cheek? Is it a tattoo?"

"This," replied Tsubasa as he pointed to the black star below his left eye, "is a 'punish mark'. Some retard in this academy deals them out to problem students as punishments, and he's the only one who can take them off, and should I act out and he knows about it, this star can channel pain throughout my entire body, should he wish it." he said sourly.

"That's terrible! Why would anyone want to do that?" exclaimed Mikan, outwardly disgusted by the Academy's barbaric ways. 'Those assholes probably got the idea from Goku, that stupid retarded monkey.'

"To tame the problem children. If the Academy can hold the reins on the outrage and worry of the students who rebel, other students will behave so as to not have the punishment inflicted upon them. They say that releasing the pressure with strange behavior should replace other methods of discipline quickly."

"But... There are other ways to 'release the pressure'." said Mikan.

"Yeah, there are, but you just gotta use your brain, and no matter what be happy! Just take a bad situation, and turn it into something happy." said Tsubasa happily.

Putting on a fake smile that looked realistically authentic, Mikan nodded while thinking, 'Like hell _I'll_ ever be happy again.'

Soon, dark clouds began to roll in, and it began to rain. Mikan sighed blissfully, oh how she loved the rain. She felt as if the Heavens were crying for her suffering and misery. It always put a smile on her face. Excusing herself from the trio, she slowly jogged to her dorm room, where Keiko would be waiting for her to be fed.

The next day, when Mikan got up, she put on her old t-shirt and running shorts, she ate her breakfast, fed Keiko, put on her running shoes, and shoved her knife and key one of the sneakers, and did something she never did before, she took Keiko with her.

"Alright Keiko, let's see how fast you can run," said Mikan as she smiled. For some reason or another, she felt sickeningly happy today, and felt all she could do was _smile_. Starting at a brisk walk, she was surprised how the little cub kept up with her easily. Quickening her pace to a light jog, Keiko easily kept up with her. "Keiko, I'm going to run, so you run as fast as you possibly can, alright?" seeing the cub nod, Mikan took off at a blistering speed. 'I wonder what would happen if I lost my sight? Hmm, I probably would be able to sense the vibrations of everything from the earth. I think I'll give it a try, that way, I'll know where Keiko is without looking,' thought Mikan as she closed her eyes.

Suddenly, as the world went black, Mikan picked up on an entire different range of sight. Every blossom that fell to the ground, she knew where it was. Every step she took, it was as if the world had slowed down, just for her, so that she could know every little detail on the earth's surface. She could sense Keiko's tiny paws hit the surface and leave multiple times before jumping swiftly to the left in order to dodge a tree, and after half a second, jumped back to her original spot.

Ten feet away from her, she sensed a tree, and turned sharply to the right as she felt the distance close in. 'This is... That felt exhilarating.' thought Mikan as she felt the ground become less rough and became smoother from the lack of trees.

She had arrived at Bear-san's house. Feeling the familiar soft vibrations coming her way, Mikan opened her eyes to see the plush toy come out from his cabin, its eyes glimmering manically.

"Ah. Good morning, Bear-san," began Mikan politely as she bowed, "I trust you are well?" Seeing that the bear would not take a step further than the dry shelter of his veranda, Mikansuddenly got an idea. Moving her hand in an upward and sweeping motion, the brunette collected all of the water particles and made them float above their heads, creating a canopy of water that acted like an over-sized, liquid umbrella.

Even though the bear clearly couldn't speak, he nodded his head ever so slightly as a sign that he understood, and bowed like Mikan had.

With the formalities out of the way, both got into a fighting stance. As both circled, moving intricately around the clearing. Mikan was calm and patient, whereas Bear-san was hopping to and fro, ready for a fight.

Bear-san lunged at Mikan, starting the brawl. Mikan defended him easily with a swipe of her hand. They continued like this for several minutes, while Mikan was absorbed in her fighting yet again, she failed to notice the same dark figure with the same white mask covering the unchanging beetle black eyes.

The figure observed quietly and unseen from afar, a menacing upward curvature of his lips donned his face. 'She will make a good puppet to have for missions. But the question is, will she do them without bribery? From what I have gathered, I now know that she believes that she has blown up her town, and that she has murdered the Hyuuga family apart from Natsume. Interesting. Perhaps I should tell her that his sister and father still live? Yes, I think I should. That way, she will be more submissive for her missions.

'She has great power. With training, she may very well be the best in the Dangerous Ability. When she comes in a few weeks, she will have to go through extensive training in order to harness the full potential of her many alices. Yes, she will make a fine puppet.' As the figure mused on, Mikan and Bear-san were still fighting, only by now, they were into the fancy moves that required Mikan to do flips and dole out punches. So caught up in their fighting were they, that the figure continued to watch them for the full hour without fear of being spotted. Slipping away ever so gracefully, they only left a shadow behind until that, too, disappeared until nothing was left.

Even though Mikan appeared to be so engrossed with what she was doing, she was, in fact, keeping her head clear so that she could focus on her surroundings and avoid the rather large collection of water that had gathered over time. She let her body moved on its own accord and felt very detached from it at the moment, like it wasn't even apart of her anymore. As soon as she realized it, though, she seemed to be snapped back into herself, and resumed fighting while keeping the thought of the water overhead ever-present in her mind.

Suddenly, a drop of water slashed against her nose. 'Huh?' she thought. Looking upwards, she saw that her water umbrella was leaking. Bear-san had noticed this, too, as he had ran as fast as his small-but-powerful fabric legs could carry him to the safety of his log cabin, and slammed the door.

Grinning like an idiot, Mikan took a quick bow and said, "Thank you, Bear-san. You have been a formidable opponent for today. See you tomorrow!" Turning to Keiko, she added, "C'mon, Keiko! Let's have a race to get back to the dorms!"

Laughing as if she had never laughed before, she took off as a blinding speed with Keikosome five feet behind her. As the Middle School Dorm came in to view, Mikan slowed down and watched as the little tigress passed her, reaching the door first. Turning back to face Mikan, she gave off a triumphant aura and what seemed to be a smile. Chuckling softly, pulled the door open and scampered up the stairs with Keiko closely at her heels.

Arriving at the Specials floor, Mikan began to hop on one foot, as one of her hands were in her sneaker trying to grab her key. By the time she reached her room, she held a key in her hand. Unlocking the door, she opened it and walked in, and after making sure that Keiko was inside, she closed the heavy door and headed straight for the bathroom to take a shower.

After getting dressed, Mikan rolled up her dark jeans and smoothed out her brown t-shirt. Her fingers went over the bamboo stock design that was placed on her left side. Slipping her feet into her shoes, she took her knife, keys and her photo album with her.

She had very important matters that simply _had_ to be attended to.

"Keiko, you have to stay here while I go out. Do you understand? I won't be long, maybe an hour or two. Bye," said Mikan impassively as she walked out the door, closing it softly. She didn't bother locking it with her key, as she knew that once the door closed again, it would lock by itself.

Walking to the nearest forest, Mikan found a suitable tree and sat down, drawing the blade of her knife. Next, she opened her photo album and ficked through the pages. Where was that photo? She knew it was in there somewhere.

"Found it," said Mikan dully. In her hand was a photograph of her _father_, her mother, her Ojii-san, and herself. Everyone looked so happy in that picture. Everyone was alive and young, Mikan herself was only three when the picture was taken. Taking the picture, she sliced the thin paper upwards so that it excluded the bastard. She watched as the light strip decended gently to the ground. Next, she cut herself out of the picture so the result was only a picture of her mother and her Ojii-san. Ignighting a small flame in her palm, Mikan slowly lowered the altered photograph into the fire as a tear slid down her cheek.

--

**Review please**

**A/N:**I must say I'm vair surprised that you guys didn't echsew me with a firm foot. Vair vair surprised indeed.  
Geeeeze. It took me fo evsies to write this. Partially 'cause Mother would not allow it, partially 'cause I'm sick, and partially 'cause of school.  
I don't think I'll be updating vair frequently, but keep your eyes open and your ears peeled, I may be on the updating train.  
But I doubt it.  
School gets in the way too much. : |  
Why didn't anyone tell me that I had a crap load of mistakes in my chapters? Honestly, you should. So that way, I can improve my writing abilities... if I even have any to start with, that is. Even tiny ickle errors.  
i.e. : he**e**llo it**s** is a beautiful day **uot** today... Oui Oui.  
Anywho, the nub and gist of it all is that I will be going back to look at my old chapters de cette histoire, et attempté de le fixé.  
So, I mightn't update until five months or so... but that's a guestimation. Perhaps. I may get it done sooner it I can write non-stop over March Break... which is like.. a couple weeks away (?).  
Ciao.


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